Manufacturing the multiscale vascular hierarchy: progress toward solving the grand challenge of tissue engineering

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

In human vascular anatomy, blood flows from the heart to organs and tissues through a hierarchical vascular tree, comprising large arteries that branch into arterioles and further into capillaries, where gas and nutrient exchange occur. Engineering a complete, integrated vascular hierarchy with vessels large enough to suture, strong enough to withstand hemodynamic forces, and a branching structure to permit immediate perfusion of a fluidic circuit across scales would be transformative for regenerative medicine (RM), enabling the translation of engineered tissues of clinically relevant size, and perhaps whole organs. How close are we to solving this biological plumbing problem? In this review, we highlight advances in engineered vasculature at individual scales and focus on recent strategies to integrate across scales.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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