Bioprintable Vasculature Network towards 3D
Organ Fabrication
Yahui (Vanessa) Zhang, Prospective Faculty
Industrial Engineering Department
Monday, November 11, 2013 – 10:00 A.M.
Ind Engr. Rm 103
Abstract:
Bioprintable Vasculature Network towards 3D Organ Fabrication
Despite great progress in tissue engineering, there still exist limitations in fabrication of thick tissues
and organs. The engineered construct is still trapped in a geometrically simple and thin structure due
to an inefficient transportation system. In traditional scaffolding, the media exchange rate mainly
depends on media diffusion. Even a porous scaffold cannot provide enough media for the high
metabolic rate of thick tissue. Embedding vascular-like system has great potential to increase media
exchange capability. The existing vascular conduit fabrication methods are limits as well. Due to
complex hierarchical organization of natural vasculature system, where tubular vessels branches into
smaller vessels up to capillary scale, biofabrication of perfusable branched network still remains a
challenge. This talk will introduce a novel printable vascular conduit fabrication method that has the
potential to be used in thick tissue or organ fabrication such a glucose-sensitive pancreatic organ in the
near future. Several fabricated samples will be demonstrated along with the mechanical, perfusion, cell
viability and tissue histology studies.
BIOGRAPHY:
Yahui Zhang is a Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa.
November 11, 2013
10:00 a.m.