A 3D printing mold method for rapid fabrication of artificial blood vessels

In severe cases of cardiovascular disease, damaged blood vessels need to be replaced. Autologous transplantation is the clinical first choice; however, its availability is very limited, and its cost is high. In this study, a novel simple 3D mold fabrication technology was developed, which could be used to prepare 3D molds of different sizes. 3D molds can be used for one-step injection molding to prepare tubular tissue grafts. This mold is economical, simple, adjustable in size, and can be applied to commercial production. We prepared a double cross-linking (ionic cross-linking between Ca2+ and sodium alginate, and free radical polymerization of acrylamide using N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide as a cross-linking agent) polyacrylamide/N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide/sodium alginate (PMSA) hydrogel tube using this method. The obtained PMSA hydrogel tube has excellent mechanical properties, good biocompatibility, and an adjustable tube diameter within 6 mm, which can be used as a small-diameter vascular graft. The PMSA hydrogel tube shows great patency 28 days post-implantation in a rabbit model. Due to their inherent simplicity and versatility, the customizable fabrication of tubular grafts based on 3D printed mold holds great promise in the field of bioengineering.