Bioengineering professor patents groundbreaking elastic hydrogel for 3D-printed blood vessels that mimic natural tissue.
In early 2025, bioengineering professor Guohao Dai at Northeastern University secured a patent for a groundbreaking elastic hydrogel that could transform how we approach vascular tissue engineering. What’s exciting about this new material is that it’s much more elastic and much stronger than traditional hydrogels, which are typically far too fragile for medical uses, making them useless for creating working blood vessels using 3D printing.
“To enable its application in bioprinting of soft tissues, we have modified the hydrogel system on its printability and biodegradability,” explained Dai and his co-authors in their research paper detailing the technology.
The innovative material is based on a visible light crosslinked system using poly(ethylene glycol) and polycaprolactone, creating a single-network, elastic, and biocompatible hydrogel. What makes this development particularly exciting is the material’s ability to stretch and accommodate arterial pressure, a critical requirement for functional blood vessels.
Traditional hydrogels typically break when stretched, but lab studies on Dai’s creation suggest it can withstand the mechanical demands of vascular tissue. However, Dai acknowledges there’s still work to be done before human implementation.
“Eventually, we would use the patient’s own cells to create it, but we are still working on this,” he says. “Human arterial pressure is about 100 mmHg. Initially we will probably focus on a lower pressure system in the pulmonary artery system where it is about 20 to 30 mmHg.”
The next crucial step involves animal studies to refine the material further, with plans to test in pig or sheep models before moving to human trials.
One of the most exciting applications is in the pediatrics space, especially kids with congenital heart defects. Currently, these young patients often require multiple surgeries as they outgrow synthetic grafts that cannot develop alongside their bodies. Pulmonary valve replacement, the most common heart procedure in children, typically involves these static synthetic grafts.
Dai’s vision is different, he anticipates creating biodegradable 3D grafts that not only match the patient’s heart size and shape but can actually grow with the child. The hydrogel dissolves in liquid solution and can encapsulate water after printing, creating an ideal environment for cell growth.
The printing process is equally innovative: scientists infuse cells into the liquid solution before printing, then expose the printed structure to blue light. This triggers a photochemical reaction that renders the gel elastic while preserving the living cells within. Over time, the cells multiply inside the printed structure, and remarkably, the 3D-printed vessel eventually degrades in the body but not before the child’s own cells have grown to replace it.
“This is not a plastic that is there doing nothing,” Dai explains, distinguishing his approach from current synthetic vessels.
While the initial focus is on simpler structures like vessel walls, the technology holds potential for more complex organ bioprinting down the line, including hearts, livers, and lungs.
The major hurdle now is funding. Animal experiments are expensive, with Dai noting they need “a few million dollars to do large animal studies.” His team has submitted several grant proposals and is collaborating with Dr. John Mayer, Jr. at Boston Children’s Hospital, whose lab brings valuable experience with pediatric patients and animal models.
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National Institutes of Health funding appears to be the most likely financial pathway to advance this technology to the next stage. Dai and his co-inventor, Yi Hong from UT Arlington, are also open to industrial partnerships to further develop this promising medical breakthrough.
The technology exists and is feasible, now it’s a matter of securing the resources to bring 3D-printed blood vessels from the laboratory to those who need them most.
