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Artificial vascularized scaffolds for 3D-tissue regeneration — a report of the ArtiVasc 3D Project

The successful conquest of the third dimension 2. Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Ger-
need not be confined to the skin, however. The Arti- many
Vasc 3D project has also laid the foundations for fu- 3. AO Research Institute, Davos, Switzerland
ture developments in three-dimensional tissue engi- 4. International Management Services ARTTIC,
neering. By using the principle of blood circulation Germany
with artificial blood vessels, medical engineers will be 5. Beiersdorf AG, Germany
able to build larger structures such as whole organs in 6. Berufsgenossenschaftliche Kliniken Berg-
the future. For full skin cultured in vitro, there are a mannsheil [Bergmannsheil Hospital of the
variety of applications: quick assistance for large-area Ruhr-Universität Bochum], Germany
skin injuries such as burns or after tumor resection as 7. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Re-
well as a replacement model that would make animal search IAP, Germany
testing in the pharmaceutical industry unnecessary. 8. Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering
Whilst some of the objectives were not fully and Biotechnology IGB , Germany
achieved, the project has produced a significant num- 9. Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT ,
ber of scientific findings and technical innovations. It Germany
is our view that these achievements could not have 10. Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology
been made by the individual partners working in iso- and Automation IPA , Germany
lation. This kind of large, multidisciplinary, mul- 11. Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials
ti-institution project poses some practical, logistical IWM , Germany
and managerial challenges. Some of the pros and cons 12. INNOVENT e.V. Technology Development
are summarized in Table 2. However, the authors hope Jena , Germany
that the achievements of the project illustrate that it 13. KMS Automation GmbH , Germany
was productive and successful and forms a valuable 14. Medical University of Vienna, Austria
and significant contribution to the research in tissue 15. Unitechnologies SA, Switzerland
engineering and bioprinting. We encourage other rese- 16. University of East Anglia, UK
archers in the international community to develop mul- 17. Loughborough University, UK
tidisciplinary and multi-institutional projects where 18. Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Plasma
the combination of expertise and facilities can achieve Technology IGVP, University of Stuttgart,
more than the sum of the parts. Germany

9. The ArtiVasc 3D Project Partners 19. University of Salerno, Department of Industrial
Engineering, Italy
1. Aalto University, Finland 20. Vimecon GmbH, Germany

Table 2. Pros and cons of large, multidisciplinary, multi-partner projects
Pros Cons
Positive features and opportunities Negative features and challenges
• Enables multidisciplinary working • Challenging to set up the consortium and attract all the right part-
• Well planned projects ners
• Clear aims and objectives • Have to develop the proposal with little or no funding
• Inclusive approach • Securing competitive funding
• Shared resources • Communication difficulties — language barriers and translation
• Intellectual stimulation from wide variety of colleagues issues
• Academic rigour (debate, consensus and internal peer review) • Time and cost associated with travel
• Mutual, cross-disciplinary learning • Logistical challenges (e.g. moving materials or equipment around
• Training and researcher development partners)
• Forming new collaborations and future projects • Tight plans and limited resources
• Co-authoring papers • Time and cost of legal agreements
• Wider international dissemination of results (in more languages) • Administrative burden of strictly controlled financial reporting and
record keeping
• Cultural exchange and learning
• Unforeseen changes (people leaving, companies coming or going)
100 International Journal of Bioprinting (2016)–Volume 2, Issue 1