ARTIVASC 3D · Artificial vascularised scaffolds for 3D-tissue-regeneration

The use of bioartificial tissue for regenerative medicine offers great therapeutic potential, but also has to meet high demands with respect to the interaction of the bioartificial devices and natural tissues. Key issues for the successful use of bioartifical tissues as natural tissue replacements are their long term functional stability and biocompatible integration. Up to now, various approaches for the generation of bioartificial tissues have not succeeded due to insufficient nutrition and oxygen supply. Therefore, current tissue engineered products have only been realised for non vascularised tissues such as cartilage.ArtiVasc 3D will break new ground and overcome these challenges by providing a micro- and nano-scale based manufacturing and functionalisation technology for the generation of fully vascularised bioartificial tissue that enables entire nutrition and metabolism. The bioartificial vascularised skin engineered in ArtiVasc 3D will, for the first time, allow tissue replacement with optimum properties.ArtiVasc 3D will research and develop an innovative combination of hi-tech engineering such as micro-scale printing, nano-scale multiphoton polymerisation and electro-spinning with biological research on biochemical surface modification and complex cell culture. In a multidisciplinary approach, experts in biomaterial development, cell-matrix interaction, angiogenesis, tissue engineering, simulation, design and fabrication methods work together to generate bioartificial vascularised skin in a fully automated and standardised manufacturing approach.This bioartificial vascularised skin will be of great value in a vast array of clinical treatments, e.g. as a transplant in trauma treatment. In addition, this new bioartificial vascularised skin will be used as an innovative in vitro skin equivalent for pharmaceutical, cosmetics or chemical substance testing, which represents a promising method to reduce expensive, ethically disputed animal testing.