Western Japan university to research transplants of 3D-printed blood vessels

SAGA -- Saga University in western Japan is set to begin clinical research on the transplantation of artificial blood vessels made from patients' own cells using a 3D bioprinter, researchers announced.

Clinical research on the transplantation of 3D-printed cells or organs is extremely rare across the world, say the university's researchers.

The clinical research will be conducted on three patients with terminal kidney failure who require dialysis.

The team aims to replace shunts, which have been used in dialysis so far, with artificial blood vessels, because shunts are made of resin and could develop problems such as bad blood flow as a result of clogging in their interior.

If preparations go smoothly, the patients will undergo the transplants as early as next spring.

"We've reached a stage where we can proceed together with the patients. Since unexpected things could occur, we'll move ahead with the project cautiously," said professor Koichi Nakayama, co-leader of the team.

The team, co-led by Nakayama and assistant professor Manabu Ito, will extract an approximately 1-centimeter-by-3-centimeter piece of skin from the patients' groins and generate artificial blood vessels measuring about 5 centimeters in diameter and 5 centimeters long at a facility in the Aichi Prefecture city of Gamagori, central Japan.

The team will then transplant the artificial blood vessels into the arteries and veins of the patients' forearms through their elbows at a hospital attached to Saga University as early as next spring. The researchers will continue to monitor the patients' conditions for about a six-month period after the operations, and plan to conduct follow-up research over the subsequent three-year period.

In a 3D bioprinter, cells are cultured to create clumps measuring approximately 0.5 millimeters in diameter. The clumps are then skewered into a base shaped like a pinholder according to 3D data of a blood vessel. The cells bond with each other within several days to form blood vessels or organs.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on Nov. 7 approved the plan to create artificial blood vessels using a 3D printer after the Gamagori City Hospital screened the clinical research plan.

(Japanese original by Shinji Kanto, Saga Bureau)