Scientists Are Tackling Big Medical Challenges
When patients face devastating injuries, doctors often need to rebuild parts of the body through reconstructive surgery. One of the biggest obstacles is making sure the repaired tissue gets enough blood supply. Without it, new grafts cannot survive. That’s where a new idea comes in, mixing science, creativity, and problem solving.
“The grant is addressing one of the major issues, which is vascularization,” Ozbolat said. “Repairing tissues and organs depends on how well vascularization is provided to them, so that you can have blood supply move right through those structures, and you can keep the cells viable. Otherwise, without vascularization, the tissue will die.”
Most past attempts haven’t worked well because “growing vessels is a big problem,” Ozbolat explained. Blood vessels grew randomly instead of in controlled ways. Random growth caused uneven healing, sometimes leaving parts of the tissue to die.
That’s where 3D bioprinting steps in. Think of it as a super high-tech printer that doesn’t use plastic or ink but living cells. It creates scaffolds—tiny roadmaps for blood vessels.
“The 3D printing basically enables us to make a structure that will have some templates for vessels to grow through,” Ozbolat said. “Think about a mold of a biomaterial that we 3D print, and this mold has some vascular channels in it. Then we basically guide the blood vessels growing through these openings. We can make Y channels. We can make straight channels. So, when you have the straight channel, the vessel grows straight. When you have the Y, we envision that we can make something that branches.”
Alongside this, another clever solution is micropuncture, created by Ravnic. Using an ultra-fine needle, tiny holes are made in existing blood vessels. “We found that when we create these very small punctures, blood vessels rapidly sprout out of them,” Ravnic said. “By combining this with Ibrahim’s printed scaffolds, we can actually guide where those vessels grow and help them connect to the implant much more effectively.”
Together, these methods act like a puzzle solution—printing templates for vessels while encouraging natural growth in the right directions. Early experiments are showing hope that this could one day transform how doctors treat severe injuries.
“Our goal is to develop solutions that can restore form and function for patients who have suffered devastating injuries,” Ravnic said. “If we can make engineered tissues that survive and thrive in the body, the impact could be lifechanging. We envision a future where surgeons will not only repair but truly rebuild the human body.”
This story is a perfect example of how science is all about solving problems step by step. Instead of giving up when vessels grew randomly, researchers asked, How can we guide them? That question led to combining two different ideas—bioprinting and micropuncture—to create a better solution. Middle schoolers can learn from this: no problem is too big if you break it down, think creatively, and keep searching for answers.
Source:
- https://youtu.be/DWUGO5XGOVs?si=O7b4YiCaBMyaJyub
- https://pennstatehealthnews.org/2025/09/3m-grant-seeks-bioprinted-solution-for-reconstructive-surgerys-blood-problem/
- https://www.news-medical.net/health/Bioprinting-in-Medicine.aspx
- https://app.pictory.ai/
- https://chatgpt.com/
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