Vasculature Formation Using Three-Dimensional Cell Printing Technology

One of the major challenges in tissue engineering is vascularization which provides adequate supplies of oxygen and nutrients to cells within thick tissue-engineered constructs. Oxygen, nutrients and other molecules required for cell growth and survival can only diffuse to 150∼200 μm without proper vascular system. For this reason, thicker tissues have diffusion problems and cannot survive/proliferate well. To date, fabrications of relatively thin tissues such as skin and bladder, and cartilage tissues, which require low level of oxygen and nutrients, are reported. Obstacles in vascularization still exist for thick and complex tissue construct such as kidney, lung and heart (1). Overcoming this problem is a critical step to the clinical applications of tissue engineering (2).