A Stanford University research team has published groundbreaking results in Science, introducing a new technology for rapidly designing and 3D-printing complex vascular networks. This breakthrough addresses a critical bottleneck in scaling up organ growth for regenerative medicine, offering new hope for personalized organ transplantation.

The global organ transplant supply-demand imbalance remains severe, with traditional methods plagued by immune rejection and donor shortages. The team's innovative algorithm accelerates vascular network design by 200 times and generates complex vascular structures highly similar to human organs. Co-senior author Professor Alison Marsden stated: "Without blood supply, tissues cannot be scaled. Our technology resolves this key limitation."

The technology leverages the open-source SimVascular project, integrating hemodynamic simulations to ensure uniform blood distribution. Experiments show the method can design a heart model with millions of vessels in 5 hours—a task that traditionally takes months. The team successfully printed a 500-branch vascular network capable of sustaining cell survival, with even a simplified 25-vessel network effectively delivering nutrients.

While the printed vascular channels lack full physiological function at present, this research lays the foundation for bioprinting functional organs. Co-corresponding author Mark Skylar-Scott noted: "This is the first step toward generating truly complex vascular networks—we are integrating cells and vascular systems at organ scale."

This technological leap will accelerate regenerative medicine, potentially enabling on-demand, personalized transplant organs to fundamentally resolve organ shortages. The team is now focused on improving print resolution, speeding up fabrication, and promoting autonomous microvascular growth.