3D-printing thick, organized heart muscle with built-in blood vessels
A dual 3D bioprinting platform for engineering a thick anisotropic myocardial tissue with geometric vasculature
This project builds a new 3D printing method to make thick, organized pieces of heart muscle with their own tiny blood vessels for adults whose hearts were damaged by a heart attack.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | George Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Washington, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11300977 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers are developing a dual 3D bioprinting system that layers muscle cells, supportive materials, and designed channels to form heart-like tissue with aligned fibers and geometric blood vessels. They will use stem cells and engineered scaffolds in the lab, apply mechanical cues to encourage the tissue to mature, and test function in laboratory and animal models. The team aims to produce thicker, more realistic patches of heart muscle than current approaches can make. Over time this work could support new therapies or better ways to test heart medicines.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults who have had a heart attack or who have lasting heart muscle damage could be eventual candidates for therapies developed from this work.
Not a fit: People without heart muscle injury or those with heart conditions that are not caused by lost cardiomyocytes are unlikely to see direct benefit from this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could enable lab-grown heart tissue patches that repair damaged heart muscle and help prevent heart failure after a heart attack.
How similar studies have performed: Earlier work has produced small cardiac patches that showed promise in lab and animal tests, but making thick, well-vascularized, and aligned heart muscle for true functional repair is still largely unproven and is a newer challenge.
Where this research is happening
Washington, United States
- George Washington University — Washington, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zhang, Lijie Grace — George Washington University
- Study coordinator: Zhang, Lijie Grace
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.