Blood vessels made with 3D-printed ice could improve lab-grown organs

Complex artificial organs could be created by 3D printing a mould of veins, arteries and capillaries in ice, casting that in organic material and then allowing the ice to melt away, resulting in a delicate, hollow network. This leaves a space for the intricate artificial blood vessels that are required to develop lab-grown internal organs. Researchers have been working on artificial organs for decades to help meet the high global demand for transplants of the likes of hearts, kidneys and livers. But creating the blood vessel networks needed to keep them alive is still a challenge. Existing techniques can grow artificial skin or ears, but any flesh or organ material dies off if more than 200 micrometres from a blood vessel, says Philip LeDuc at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.