Page 265 - IJB-9-6

International

Journal of Bioprinting

REVIEW ARTICLE
3D bioprinting for vascular grafts and

microvasculature

Junpeng Zhu , Xinwang Wang , Lin Lin , and Wen Zeng 1,3,4 *
1†
2†
1†
1 Department of Cell Biology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China
2 Troops 69250 of the PLA, Urumqi, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Chongqing, China
4 Jinfeng Laboratory, Chongqing 401329, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: 3D printing for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine)

Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death, and there is a substantial
clinical need for transplantable blood vessels. Through tissue vascular engineering
technology, large blood vessel grafts with significant clinical effects have been
synthesized. However, synthesizing vascular valves, small vessels up to 6 mm in
diameter, and capillary networks up to 500 μm in diameter remains challenging
due to the lack of precise manufacturing techniques. In particular, constructing
a microvascular network in thick tissue is the technical bottleneck of organ
transplantation. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is a computer-assisted layer-by-
layer deposition method that can deposit cells and biomaterials at a predetermined
location, according to an accurate digital 3D model, to build a delicate and complex
bionic structure. This review discusses the progress and limitations of 3D bioprinting
† These authors contributed equally in preparing large vessels and valves, small-diameter vessels, and microvascular
to this work. networks. This paper focuses on improved printing technology and innovative bio-
*Corresponding author: ink materials. The future application of 3D bioprinting is prospected in generating
Wen Zeng artificial blood vessel grafts and vascularized organs with full biological function.
(zengw0105@163.com)
Citation: Zhu J, Wang X, Lin L,
et al., 2023, 3D bioprinting Keywords: 3D bioprinting; Small-diameter vessels; Microvasculature
for vascular grafts and
microvasculature. Int J Bioprint,
9(6): 0012.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijb.0012
1. Introduction
Received: May 12, 2023
Accepted: July 1, 2023 Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world, with the annual
Published Online: August 2, 2023
number of mortalities expected to reach 23.3 million by 2030 . The body’s vascular
[1]
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). system consists of four parts, such as large-diameter blood vessels (diameter 10–30 mm),
This is an Open Access article medium-diameter blood vessels (diameter 6–10 mm), small-diameter blood vessels
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution (diameter 0.5–6 mm), and capillaries (diameter <500 μm).
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Macroangiopathy, along with aortic dissection, thoracic aortic aneurysm, and
provided the original work is abdominal aortic aneurysm, poses a significant threat to human life and health.
properly cited. These diseases often lead to sudden death of patients due to blood vessel rupture and
[2]
Publisher’s Note: AccScience bleeding . Clinically, the radical surgical approach to significant vascular disease
Publishing remains neutral with replaces damaged vessels with artificial vessels . The large vessel valve is located at the
[3]
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional junction of the cardiac chambers and the large-diameter artery, ensuring unipolar blood
affiliations. flow between the ventricle and the large artery. Narrowing or incomplete closure of the

Volume 9 Issue 6 (2023) 257 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijb.0012