UTA engineer earns grant to develop materials for 3-D printed blood vessels for children

An engineer at The University of Texas at Arlington has been awarded a $211,000 R21 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop materials that will allow doctors to use a 3-D printer to create unique new blood vessels for children with vascular defects.

Vascular defects in children, which may cause congenital heart defects, are difficult to be treated with the same methods used in adults. Common treatments such as grafts are not ideal because grafts do not grow at the same rate as a child's body and multiple surgeries are necessary to match that growth.

Also, there is a high risk of thrombosis, which must be treated with anti-coagulant drugs, which are not compatible with the active lifestyle of a normal child. Current tissue-engineered blood vessels are very fragile and cannot withstand blood pressure and the stresses of implantation surgery.

Yi Hong, an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, will develop materials that can be used in a 3-D printer, are elastic and can be formed into viable, patient-specific blood vessels.

His partner, Guohao Dai of Northeastern University, will use Hong's materials to print the blood vessels. The duo will mix cells and Hong's materials together to print a conduit, which can then be attached to natural blood vessels, reducing the need for surgical manipulation.

"Our research is mainly focused on the primary techniques. It is unique and could be far-reaching because we are developing elastic materials for 3-D printing," Hong said.

"There are great possibilities from this research, which is a broad look at the possibility of tissue-engineering a blood vessel. Other groups are investigating 3D printed tissue-engineered blood vessels for use in bypasses or in the abdominal wall, but they do not have the proper bioinks. These are the major parts that will be needed for success in those areas."

Michael Cho, chair of the College of Enginering's Bioengineering Department, says that Hong's grant underscores the University's emphasis on health and the human condition contained within the Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact.

"The development of new blood vessels, has been a daunting challenge in tissue engineering," Cho said. "Dr. Hong's approach to applying bioinks in printing engineered blood vessels is not only innovative, but offers a feasible alternative to overcome the challenges involved. With respect to clinical application, I have no doubt Dr. Hong will contribute significantly to regenerative medicine where progress has been hampered by an inability to introduce blood vessels into engineered tissues."

Provided by University of Texas at Arlington