Bioprinting of Blood Vessels

A major challenge in the development of artificial organs is vascularization. In artificial organ fabrication, it may be advantageous to design custom vasculature for adequate vascularization. One such technique is bioprinting. There is a tremendous demand for the fabrication of macroscale vascular grafts and microscale vessels. We introduce motivations for vessel printing, along with an introduction to vessel biology. Then, we discuss challenges associated with vessel bioprinting, followed by an examination of methods. For direct bioprinting, we will examine inkjet/deposition, laser-based, extrusion-based, stereolithography, and syringe-based printing. We will next review hybrid techniques and alternative printing techniques. We will then provide a discussion of postprinting considerations for vessel bioprinting. Finally, we provide a glimpse of how vessel bioprinting fits into the bioprinting arena, along with future trends.