3D-Printed Vascular Tissue Accelerates Path to Commercial Organ Manufacturing
Breakthroughs in 3D-printing living vascular tissue bring the reality of manufactured organs closer to commercialization. Companies like Prellis Biologics and Volumetric Bio are making significant strides in creating complex, functional blood vessel networks.
New breakthroughs in 3D-printing living vascular tissue show that the manufacturing of human organs moves closer to reality. Prellis Biologics recently raises $8.7 million in funding and speeds up its timeline to commercialization as it successfully creates vascular tissue structures from living cells. The company plans to sell these structures to research institutions and develops specific applications like vascularized skin grafts, insulin-producing cells, and patient-specific vascular shunts for dialysis treatment.
A vascular shunt made from a patient's own cells offers a significant improvement over traditional synthetic options. When standard shunts fail, patients often face severe complications and require chest ports, but a bioprinted alternative increases the procedure's success rate. This advancement directly improves the quality of life and longevity for individuals waiting for kidney transplants.
Separately, a research team led by bioengineers from Rice University and the University of Washington unveils a 3D-printed lung air sac model that successfully delivers oxygen to surrounding blood vessels. This project, which spawns the company Volumetric Bio, solves a critical roadblock by creating interpenetrating vascular networks that mimic the body's own complex passageways. The technology represents the first bioprinting method that successfully addresses the challenge of multivascularization in a direct and scalable way.