A research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have designed 3D printing capabilities for living skin and blood vessels. Applications of this technology will help develop grafting capabilities so that they better mimic the skin our bodies naturally produce. Their research is published in Tissue Engineering Part A.
In their publication, researchers show that if they incorporate human endothelial cells and human pericyte cells with animal collagen and other structural cells found in a skin graft, the cells begin communicating and forming a biologically relevant vascular structure. This process can occur as early as within a few weeks.