According to doctors, a boy in Britain is doing well four days after surgeons used the boy's own stem cells and a transplanted windpipe to replace his trachea.

The Financial Times has reported that Martin Birchall of University College London said using the patient's own stem cells and body as a "bioreactor" could transform transplant surgery in the future.

Enzymes were used by Paolo Macchiarini and colleagues at Careggi University Hospital in Florence, Italy, to strip the windpipe of a woman in Italy who died in an accident of all living cells that might trigger immune rejection in the recipient. Macchiarini transported the windpipe to London.

About two tablespoons of stem cells were removed by Birchall from the boy's bone marrow and injected them into the trachea and replaced it with the boy's defective windpipe.

The Times said on Friday that the boy said he was breathing better than he had in years. (With Inputs from Agencies)