A step closer to artificial organs: UV light shapes arteriole-scale hydrogel vessels
Researchers in Japan have developed a new photofabrication technique to create arteriole-scale tubular hydrogels. This method uses light-controlled synthetic processes to build vascular networks, which are essential for the development of functional artificial organs.
Why it matters
Overcoming the bottleneck of constructing midsize blood vessels is a critical step toward creating viable, fully artificial organs for medical transplantation.
edited by Swati Mestri , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source (a) Curved hydrogel tube. (b) Branching hydrogel tube. Front view (c) and side view (d) of the fabricated multi-material tubular hydrogel. Scale bars, 1 mm in (a), (b), and (d), and 500 µm in (c) Credit: CC BY-NC-ND, 2026, Yuki Kamiya et al., Meniscus-Guided Interfacial Ring-by-Ring Assembly for In Situ Fabrication of Tubular Hydrogel Structures, Advanced Materials The creation of fully artificial organs is a sci-fi dream, and researchers in Japan may have brought it one step closer to reality by developing a new photofabrication technique (i.e., a light-controlled synthetic method) for constructing arteriole-scale tubular hydrogels. Their research is published in the journal Advanced Materials .
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