As the number of elderly people expands globally and state-of-the art medical care procedures become available in developing countries, demand for tissues and organs for transplants is also increasing. Currently, demand for organs is outpacing supply to the point that it is becoming a social problem resulting in longer waiting times for surgery. Tissue engineering is a growing field of science that aims at replacing organ transplantation. Consequently, tissue engineering is achieving widespread interest as a method for tissue and organ repair, reconstruction, and replacement.
Synthetic tissues that have simple geometry and do not require blood vessels are already been being produced, but main challenges exist in the creation of thick (200 microns or more) and three-dimensional (3D) tissues needed for complex organs such as heart, liver, and kidney. These tissues require a vasculature, in other words a network of vessels, including arteries and arterioles as well as veins and venules. Arteries and arterioles have the function to deliver nutrients, growth factors, and oxygen to the cells, whereas veins and venules remove metabolic waste.
Vasculature is needed so that cells can grow, multiply, and form the extracellular matrix (ECM), resulting in the creation of larger tissue constructs and miniature simplified version of organs known as organoids. The extracellular matrix is the material surrounding the cell. It occupies the space between cells and has a network structure formed of proteins (e.g., collagen and elastin) and polysaccharides (hyaluronic acid). The ECM is the main component of the cell microenvironment, a dynamic and complex medium with chemical, physical and mechanical properties characteristic of the specific tissue. The ECM supports cell life, regulates cell behavior, and affects cell-to-cell interaction, cell morphology, and tissue performance.
The report includes:
- An overview of the artificial vasculature and micro-environmental factors supporting tissue engineering and organoids
- Estimation of the current market size and future demand for 3D printing and tissue engineering products, and market share analysis on the basis of application and geographical region
- Highlights of emerging trends and new technological developments related to artificial vasculature
- Review existing fields of application for artificial vasculature and examination of emerging applications
- Evaluation of techniques employed to produce artificial vasculature, including materials and processes, with reference to various types of structures such as synthetic tissues, organoids, and organs-on-a-chip
