Printing blood vessels and organs? Scientists might have a way to do that, study says

Scientists say they have a discovered a way to 3D print blood vessels and organ tissue that could one day function within a human body, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Study lead author Yonghui Ding, a postdoctoral researcher in Mechanical Engineering, said in a statement that “this is a profound development.” This method of 3D printing allows scientists to decide which parts of the constructed tissue is hard or soft by managing the flow of oxygen within the printed object, possibly offering a way to fight certain vascular diseases that deal with blood vessels.

“The idea was to add independent mechanical properties to 3D structures that can mimic the body’s natural tissue,” senior study author Xiaobo Yin said, per ScienceDaily. “This technology allows us to create microstructures that can be customized for disease models.”

Basically, controlling the movement of oxygen enables scientists to create an organ that, for example, is rigid in some parts and more malleable in others, the study says. The researchers used a printer — which can print something down to one-tenth the width of human hair — to show a few examples of what can be created.

For example, the researchers created a model of a warrior that was hard on the outside but hid a soft heart on the inside, showing the ability to produce an object requiring different areas of softness or rigidity.

Another experiment showed the ability of researchers to create stiff structures within a 3D-printed object that can keep it from collapsing.

Twenty-one people die each day in the U.S. while waiting for an organ transplant, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.