International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, Volume. 6, Issue 3, 35503(2024)

3D printed grafts with gradient structures for organized vascular regeneration

Yuewei Chen1,2,3, Zhongfei Zou3,4, Tao Fu3,5, Zhuang Li1, Zhaojie Zhang1, Meng Zhu1, Qing Gao1, Shaofei Wu6, Guosheng Fu6, Yong He1, and Jiayin Fu6、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering,Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
  • 2School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, People’s Republic of China
  • 3Co-author.
  • 4School of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, People’s Republic of China
  • 5Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, School of Stomatologyand Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Research of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, People’s Republic of China
  • 6Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Intervention and Regenerative Medicine of Zhejiang Province,Department of Cardiology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310016, People’s Republic of China
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    Synthetic vascular grafts suitable for small-diameter arteries (<6 mm) are in great need.However, there are still no commercially available small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) in clinical practice due to thrombosis and stenosis after in vivo implantation. When designing SDVGs, many studies emphasized reendothelization but ignored the importance of reconstruction of the smooth muscle layer (SML). To facilitate rapid SML regeneration, a high-resolution 3D printing method was used to create a novel bilayer SDVG with structures and mechanical properties mimicking natural arteries. Bioinspired by the collagen alignment of SML, the inner layer of the grafts had larger pore sizes and high porosity to accelerate the infiltration of cells and their circumferential alignment, which could facilitate SML reconstruction for compliance restoration and spontaneous endothelialization. The outer layer was designed to induce fibroblast recruitment by low porosity and minor pore size and provide SDVG with sufficient mechanical strength. One month after implantation, the arteries regenerated by 3D-printed grafts exhibited better pulsatility than electrospun grafts, with a compliance (8.9%) approaching that of natural arteries (11.36%) and significantly higher than that of electrospun ones (1.9%). The 3D-printed vascular demonstrated a three-layer structure more closely resembling natural arteries while electrospun grafts showed incomplete endothelium and immature SML. Our study shows the importance of SML reconstruction during vascular graft regeneration and provides an effective strategy to reconstruct blood vessels through 3D-printed structures rapidly.

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    Yuewei Chen, Zhongfei Zou, Tao Fu, Zhuang Li, Zhaojie Zhang, Meng Zhu, Qing Gao, Shaofei Wu, Guosheng Fu, Yong He, Jiayin Fu. 3D printed grafts with gradient structures for organized vascular regeneration[J]. International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, 2024, 6(3): 35503

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    Paper Information

    Received: Nov. 3, 2023

    Accepted: --

    Published Online: Sep. 11, 2024

    The Author Email: Fu Jiayin (jyfu@zju.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.1088/2631-7990/ad2f50

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