Biochip: Lab-Grown Blood Vessels Advance Research
- Researchers at TU Wien have achieved a breakthrough in biomedical research by creating artificial blood vessels on a chip.
- The ability to create these microphysiological systems with perfusable blood vessels is crucial for studying drug transport,metabolism,and absorption in human tissues.
- The key innovation lies in the precision and control offered by the laser technology.
Breakthrough research in Vienna unveils a groundbreaking method: using lasers to create artificial blood vessels on a chip, revolutionizing drug research. This innovative approach, detailed in the article, allows for the precise creation of tiny, reproducible vessels that mimic the behavior of real blood vessels, including their response to inflammation. This advancement in organ-on-a-chip technology offers a promising alternative to traditional, frequently enough less accurate, methods. The team’s work, highlighted by News Directory 3, has already shown success in vascularizing a liver model, leading to improved metabolic activity. Discover what’s next as the researchers explore applications, including drug development adn personalized medicine.
Vienna’s Laser Precision Creates Blood Vessels on a Chip
Updated May 27, 2025
Researchers at TU Wien have achieved a breakthrough in biomedical research by creating artificial blood vessels on a chip. This advancement in organ-on-a-chip technology allows for more accurate and controlled experiments than conventional methods involving animals or humans. The team’s method uses ultrashort laser pulses to rapidly produce tiny, reproducible blood vessels within hydrogels, mimicking the structure and function of natural blood vessels.
The ability to create these microphysiological systems with perfusable blood vessels is crucial for studying drug transport,metabolism,and absorption in human tissues. Alice Salvadori, a member of the Research Group 3D Printing and Biofabrication at TU Wien, emphasized the importance of fine vascular networks for such studies.
The key innovation lies in the precision and control offered by the laser technology. Aleksandr Ovsianikov explained that the team can create channels spaced just 100 micrometers apart, replicating the natural density of blood vessels in specific organs. Furthermore, a two-step thermal curing process enhances the structural stability of the hydrogel, preventing vessel collapse when populated with living cells.
The artificial blood vessels also exhibit realistic biological behavior. According to Alice Salvadori, endothelial cells colonizing the vessels respond to inflammation likewise as real blood vessels, becoming more permeable. This realistic modeling marks a important step toward establishing lab-on-a-chip technology as an industrial standard in medical research, particularly in drug finding.
“We have not only shown that we can produce artificial blood vessels that can actually be perfused. The even more important thing is: We have developed a scalable technology that can be used on an industrial scale,” said Aleksanr Ovsianikov.
In collaboration with Keio University in Japan, the team successfully vascularized a liver model, creating a liver lobule-on-chip with a controlled 3D vascular network. masafumi Watanabe from Keio University noted that replicating the liver’s intricate microvasculature has been a long-standing challenge. The new approach ensures adequate nutrient and oxygen supply, leading to improved metabolic activity in the liver model.
“replicating the liver’s dense and intricate microvasculature has long been a challenge in organ-on-chip research. By building multiple layers of microvessels spanning the entire tissue volume, we were able to ensure adequate nutrient and oxygen supply — which, in turn, led to improved metabolic activity in the liver model.We believe that these advancements bring us a step closer to integrating Organ-on-a-chip technology into preclinical drug discovery,” said Masafumi Watanabe (keio University).
What’s next
The researchers plan to further refine their techniques and explore applications in various areas of biomedical research, including personalized medicine and drug development. The scalability of the technology suggests potential for widespread adoption in the pharmaceutical industry.