Bioprinting Vascular Networks
August 26, 2014 | Terry Sharrer
Before bioprinting can turn the dream of lab-made human organs into reality, the problem of creating capillaries in the tissue had to be solved. Now, a group of Australian and American scientists have accomplished that feat, as described here: “Using a high-tech ‘bio-printer’, the researchers fabricated a multitude of interconnected tiny fibres to serve as the mold for the artificial blood vessels. They then covered the 3D printed structure with a cell-rich protein-based material, which was solidified by applying light to it. Lastly they removed the bio-printed fibres to leave behind a network of tiny channels coated with human endothelial cells, which self- organize to form stable blood capillaries in less than a week.” MORE
Image Credit: University of Sydney