Researchers Create Blood Vessels using 3D Printing

Researchers have found a way to 3D print blood vessels using agarose.

If one were to lay out the blood vessels in the body in a single line from end to end, it would measure around 100,000 miles long. These vessels are tightly packed and serve as a highway for nutrients and gases in the body. Creating such a complex system from scratch in a laboratory was a challenge for scientists, until now.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have found a way to print the blood vessels.

"Engineers have made incredible strides in making complex artificial tissues such as those of the heart, liver and lungs," said Ali Khademhosseini, PhD, biomedical engineer, and director of the BWH Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, senior author of the stduy. "However, creating artificial blood vessels remains a critical challenge in tissue engineering. We've attempted to address this challenge by offering a unique strategy for vascularization of hydrogel constructs that combine advances in 3D bioprinting technology and biomaterials."

For the study, researchers first used a 3D printer to create a fiber template. The template, which acted as a mold, was made of a sugar-based molecule called agarose. Researchers then applied a gelatin-like substance on the mold. The cast on the mold was reinforced via photoreceptors, according to a news release

"Our approach involves the printing of agarose fibers that become the blood vessel channels. But what is unique about our approach is that the fiber templates we printed are strong enough that we can physically remove them to make the channels," said Khademhosseini in a news release. "This prevents having to dissolve these template layers, which may not be so good for the cells that are entrapped in the surrounding gel."

Researchers demonstrated that the complex, microchannel networks could be embedded in hydogels such as methacrylated gelatin or poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogels.

According to Khademhosseini, in the future, 3D printing could be used to construct tissues to repair damage.

The study is published in the journal Lab on a Chip.