3D printing meets vascular research

Bioartificial blood vessels could open up completely new therapeutic options in cardiovascular medicine in the future. These vascular implants with living cells are being intensively researched by a team of scientists from the University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf and the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, and we are providing support with highly specialized technical solutions for experimental use in the laboratory.

A bioreactor prototype from this project, developed by our team member Tobias Torp together with the interdisciplinary research group, was exhibited at the Ars Electronica Center Linz in 2025. As a renowned showcase for future technologies, a visit to this center, also known as the “Museum of the Future”, is definitely worthwhile, and we are proud to have been able to make a contribution here.

The exhibit shows an intermediate step on the way to an optimized cultivation system and was produced with the help of digital manufacturing methods such as SLA 3D printing, SLS 3D printing and CNC machining. The project was made possible in part by the Validation Fund of Kiel University, the Joachim Herz Foundation and the German Heart Foundation.

Image credits Ars Electronica – Birgit Cakir
Image processing: Merle Primke