Microvascular Tissue Engineering—A Review
Jernej Vajda, Marko Milojević, Uroš Maver, Boštjan Vihar
Abstract
Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have come a long way in recent decades, but the lack of functioning vasculature is still a major obstacle preventing the development of thicker, physiologically relevant tissue constructs. A large part of this obstacle lies in the development of the vessels on a microscale-the microvasculature-that are crucial for oxygen and nutrient delivery. In this review, we present the state of the art in the field of microvascular tissue engineering and demonstrate the challenges for future research in various sections of the field. Finally, we illustrate the potential strategies for addressing some of those challenges.
Topics & Concepts
Tissue engineeringRegenerative medicineObstacleMicroscale chemistryBiologyMedicineBiomedical engineeringStem cellCell biologyPsychologyPolitical scienceLawMathematics education3D Printing in Biomedical ResearchElectrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical ApplicationsTissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine