Vascularized tissue engineering of vital organs: design, modeling and functional testing

We report engineering of vascularized tissue constructs for the replacement of vital organ function. A computational algorithm for simulation of blood flow and rheology in microcirculation is developed and utilized to design fractal microvascular networks that mimic the key features of vital organ's blood supply. Using microfabrication/polymer processing technologies, these designed microvascular networks are replica molded to generate patterned biopolymer films, which are then stacked to form alternating vascular and parenchymal compartments. As our preliminary functional tests demonstrate, this approach is promising to produce viable liver and kidney tissues.