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REVIEW ARTICLE

Advances of 3D Printing in Vascularized Organ

Construction

Shenglong Li , Siyu Liu , Xiaohong Wang *
2
2,3
1,2
1 Department of Bone and Soft Tissue Tumor Surgery, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer
Hospital and Institute, Shenyang, China
2 Center of 3D Printing and Organ Manufacturing, School of Intelligent Medicine, China Medical University, Shenyang,
China
3 Center of Organ Manufacturing, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Abstract: In the past several decades, three-dimensional (3D) printing has provided some viable tissues and organs for
repairing or replacing damaged tissues and organs. However, the construction of sufficient vascular networks in a bioartificial
organ has proven to be challenging. To make a fully functional bioartificial organ with a branched vascular network that can
substitute its natural counterparts, various studies have been performed to surmount the limitations. Significant progress has
been achieved in 3D printing of vascularized liver, heart, bone, and pancreas. It is expected that this technology can be used
more widely in other bioartificial organ manufacturing. In this review, we summarize the specific applications of 3D printing
vascularized organs through several rapid prototyping technologies. The limitations and future directions are also discussed.

Keywords: 3D printing; Vascularized organs; Organ manufacturing; Tissue engineering; Stem cells

*Correspondence to: Xiaohong Wang, Center of 3D Printing and Organ Manufacturing, School of Intelligent Medicine, China Medical University,
No. 77 Puhe Road, Shenyang North New Area, Shenyang 110122, China; wangxiaohong709@163.com or wangxiaohong@tsinghua.edu.cn

Received: March 16, 2022; Accepted: May 24, 2022; Published Online: July 7, 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in the Application of Bioprinted Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering)
Citation: Li S, Liu S, Wang X., 2022, Advances of 3D Printing in Vascularized Organ Construction. Int J Bioprint, 8(3):588. http://doi.
org/10.18063/ijb.v8i3.588

1. Introduction advanced biotechnologies [3,4] . Especially, patient-specific
cells can be cultivated in the laboratory and combined
Organ is a collection of tissues that structurally form with biomaterials for personalized manufacturing
a functional unit specialized to perform one or more
particular functions. A few typical examples of organs and malfunctional organ restoration. This became the
include sensory organs, internal organs, hollow organs, prototype for customized organ engineering in three-
and support organs. Organ failure of liver, heart, kidney, dimensional (3D) printing areas.
and lung accounts for over millions death worldwide Despite the improvement of the quality of human
annually and has resulted in huge burden in health life, the repair of organ defects caused by diseases,
care. There is a booming demand of donors for organ congenital malformations, and traffic accidents has
transplantation . For example, about 1.5 million patients become a huge social burden, which forms a powerful
[1]
in our country (China) who need to receive organ driving force for the development of 3D printing or
transplants each year, but <1% of them can get suitable manufacturing of human organs [5,6] . The principal target
donors . It is significantly challenging to fulfill the of organ manufacturing lies in developing fully functional
[2]
[7]
needs for transplantation just from human donors. To bioartificial organs that are sustainable in vivo . Some
solve the problem of organ shortage, great efforts have parts of organs, such as the bone, skin, heart, and others,
been made to create bioartificial organs with multiple cell have been constructed . However, only a few of these
[8]
types, biocompatible materials (i.e., biomaterials), and studies have successfully translated the bioartificial
© 2022 Author(s). This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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