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REPORT

Artificial vascularized scaffolds for 3D-tissue regene-

ration — a report of the ArtiVasc 3D Project

2
2
1*
Richard Bibb , Nadine Nottrodt and Arnold Gillner
1 Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
2 Biotechnology and Laser Therapy, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), Steinbachstrasse 15, 52074 Aachen,
Germany

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the ArtiVasc 3D project and its findings. Vascularization is one
of the most important and highly challenging issues in the development of soft tissue. It is necessary to supply cells with
nutrition within a multilayer tissue, for example in artificial skin. Research on artificial skin is driven by an increasing
demand for two main applications. Firstly, for the field of regenerative medicine, the aim is to provide patients with
implants or grafts to replace damaged soft tissue after traumatic injuries or ablation surgery. Secondly, another aim is to
substitute expensive and ethically disputed pharmaceutical tests on animals by providing artificial vascularized test beds
to simulate the effect of pharmaceuticals into the blood through the skin. This paper provides a perspective on ArtiVasc
3D, a major European Commission funded project that explored the development of a full thickness, vascularized artifi-
cial skin. The paper provides an overview of the aims and objectives of the project and describes the work packages and
partners involved. The most significant results of the project are summarized and a discussion of the overall success and
remaining work is given. We also provide the journal papers resulting from the project.
Keywords: vascular, skin, bioprinting, 3D, additive manufacturing

*Correspondence to: Richard Bibb, Design School, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom;
Email: r.j.bibb@lboro.ac.uk

Received: October 26, 2015; Accepted: November 23, 2015; Published Online: December 4, 2015
Citation: Bibb R, Nottrodt N and Gillner A, 2016, Artificial vascularized scaffolds for 3D-tissue regeneration — a report of the Ar-
tiVasc 3D Project. International Journal of Bioprinting, vol.2(1): 93–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2016.01.004.

1. Background providing artificial vascularized test beds to simulate
V the skin.
the effect of pharmaceuticals into the blood through
ascularization is one of the most important
and highly challenging issues in the devel-
To date, it has only been possible to cultivate the
opment of soft tissue. It is necessary to supply
cells with nutrition within a multilayer tissue, for ex- upper layers of the skin — the epidermis and dermis
— with a total thickness of up to 200 micrometers
ample in artificial skin. outside the human body. A complete skin system,
Research on artificial skin is driven by an increas- however, should also include the subcutaneous tissues
ing demand for two main applications. Firstly, for the having an overall thickness of several millimeters. In
field of regenerative medicine, the aim is to provide order to co-cultivate the hypodermis, blood vessels
patients with implants or grafts to replace damaged supplying this tissue are imperative. The aim of the
soft tissue after traumatic injuries or ablation surgery. ArtiVasc 3D project was to enable significantly more
Secondly, another aim is to substitute expensive and complex tissues to be cultivated in vitro by developing
ethically disputed pharmaceutical tests on animals by artificial blood vessels.

Artificial vascularized scaffolds for 3D-tissue regeneration — a report of the ArtiVasc 3D Project. © 2016 Richard Bibb, et al. This is an Open Access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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