How Researchers Are 3D Printing Blood Vessels to Understand Strokes

Imagine a future where a medical facility can take a patient’s CT scan, rapidly 3D print their blood vessel model, test how their blood responds, and even use AI to predict their risk of stroke years in advance. This is the kind of future proposed by a team of researchers at the University of Sydney, who recently designed a new technology for 3D printing blood vessels. Published in Advanced Materials, their approach allows the creation of vessels that closely replicate real anatomical structures as well as the complex fluid dynamics of blood flow. The goal is to provide a tool for studying what causes strokes and, possibly, to support the development and testing of patient-specific treatments.

This is not the first time researchers have 3D printed blood vessels, but part of what sets this project apart is the speed of the operation. By using CT scans of stroke patients, the researchers made miniature models, reducing the original carotid artery 3D model to 200 to 300 micrometers, compared to a full-sized carotid artery at 5 to 7 mm. Then, they printed these models on glass slides, creating accurate replicas of healthy and diseased areas of blood vessels. This included features commonly seen in stroke patients, like dents and divots on the damaged lining of the blood vessel wall. Thanks to the miniature nature of the model, these vessels could be printed in two hours, instead of ten.

A visualization of the current strategy used for assessing stroke risk, versus the new one proposed. (Image credit: Charles Zhao et al.)

“When it comes to heart attack and stroke diagnosis, speed and accuracy is key,” PhD candidate Charles Zhao from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering said. “Clinicians typically have an approximately 12-hour decision-making window after symptom onset.”