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  • Jeff Fitlow / Rice University / Biomaterials Science

    Researchers are closer to working capillaries in 3D-printed organs

    by 
    Mallory Locklear
    Mallory Locklear
    07.10.2017

    Researchers have brought 3D-printed organ and tissue capabilities a long way, but the technology still faces a few challenges. A major one is how to incorporate blood vessels into bioprinted tissue. Living tissue needs a blood supply nearby because without blood to bring in nutrients and take away waste, biological cells will die. Researchers have been able to print larger blood vessels, but functional small vessels like capillaries have been much harder to create and sustain. However, researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a new technique, published in Biomaterials Science, that might make it possible.