3D Bioprinting of branched vessel constructs

A novel scaffold-free method for 3D bioprinting complex branched blood vessels is presented. Branched vascular structures gained importance due to the challenges of scaffold vascularization. In literature, there are several approaches to construct multicellular networks which have limited functionalities [1, 2].Traditional tissue engineering studies depend on scaffolds. However, cell seeding into scaffolds and in-vivo implantation of scaffolds could have immunogenic and unaccepted side effects. Therefore, computer-aided models of the branched vascular structures are developed allowing printing both the support structures and living cells layer-by-layer. Methodology is implemented in Rhino 3D software using Rhinoscript language. The methods are utilized to 3D bioprint branched vascular structures directly from generated Zig-zag computer models.