Freshly printed blood vessels

Developing biocompatible, artificial blood vessels is a very demanding task, which is why in 2009 five Fraunhofer Institutes pooled their resources to work on one project with this goal. In order to create such blood vessels, small, extremely complex structures need to be produced.

The main challenge here is posed by the tiny ramifications and cavities these vessels possess. The production technology known as Rapid Prototyping, which enables construction of the work pieces on the strength of a 3-D model, enabled the first steps. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute managed to transfer this technology to elastic biomaterials. First a device known as a 3-D inkjet printer applies the material in layers, which are only chemically bonded together at certain points.

As the microstructures that this produces are still too imprecise for blood vessels that are intended for use in the human body, a second step deploys multiphoton polymerisation technology. This process uses laser impulses to polymerise the processed material into chains. This reaction can now be controlled so precisely that even the most minute structures can be created from a three-dimensional blueprint.

“The individual technologies already work and the prototype for the combined unit is under construction,” comments project head Prof. Günter Tovar of the IGB, summarising the current developmental stage. Transplant medicine is another field that could benefit from this product in future.

www.igb.fraunhofer.de