Drawing Channels

As experimental setups have advanced over time, from 2D cell cultures in dishes to larger 3D structures that mimic the body’s environments, networks of vessels have become essential to get materials to growing cells at the heart of the models. A new study creates this vascular network with a scaffold first drawn with melt electrowriting – a form of microscopic 3D printing – which is submerged in the precursor of a gel. The scaffold swells, and fuses together where elements make contact, to create a predefined network of channels throughout the structure. These vessels (pictured, with a complete layer of functional cells lining the inside of the vessel) can transport essential molecules to cells growing anywhere in the device, helping to both create a viable testing platform for experiments and improve prospects of growing healthy tissues for regenerative medicine.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Video from work by Matthias Ryma and colleagues
• University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Advanced Materials, May 2022