About this Research Topic
The growing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is leading to an increase in required cardiovascular surgeries such as coronary artery bypass graft surgery, angioplasty, and valve replacement. Due to the limitations of autografts and allografts, there is a rising demand for synthetic implants. Tissue engineering of cardiovascular implants has the advantage of producing individually designed implants using recently developed technologies such as additive manufacturing (AM). AM is a layer-by-layer manufacturing process with the ability to create complex geometries according to computer-aided design (CAD) data. AM is being widely used in the field of biomedical engineering for fabrication of biological implants and drug delivery devices.
While cardiovascular research has shown interesting progress, there are still many issues to be addressed where AM can play an important role.
The capability to fabricate complex structures with controlled architecture and to position cells with unprecedented spatial accuracy enables the fabrication of tissue/organ substitutes ideally recapitulating the mechanical and biological properties of the healthy ones. Drug delivery systems can be directly implemented at regions of interest to improve, for example, hemocompatibility and bacterial resistance. At the same time, 3D in vitro models with tissue-specific cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction are a powerful tool for the study of cardiovascular disease onset and progression. They can also be used for drug screening, directly on human (patient-specific) cells, especially in combination with microfluidics systems to recapitulate (patho) physiological hemodynamic load conditions.
Furthermore, 3D printed elastomeric models that reconstruct the anatomy of cardiovascular components based on patients’ CT data enable the careful planning of surgical and minimally invasive interventions, facilitating the decision-making process of surgeons and cardiologists on the best therapy for the patient, while supporting the formation and training of medical students.
This Research Topic will cover cutting-edge research in different applications of AM in cardiovascular research and all article types including Original Research, Reviews and Perspectives. This Research Topic welcomes the submission of articles that focus on:
• Development and application of 3D-models for surgical/minimally invasive intervention planning and medical device testing
• Development of patient-specific 3D-printed cardiovascular stents, vascular grafts and heart valves
• Development of 3D-printed cardiovascular grafts with controlled drug delivery systems
• Development of 3D microfluidic cardiovascular models for drug screening
• Bioprinting of cardiovascular tissues
• The future of 3D-printing in cardiovascular disease: therapies and 3D in vitro models
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Fatemeh Kabirian has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic.
Prof. Mela hold patents related to photochemical manufacturing. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
While cardiovascular research has shown interesting progress, there are still many issues to be addressed where AM can play an important role.
The capability to fabricate complex structures with controlled architecture and to position cells with unprecedented spatial accuracy enables the fabrication of tissue/organ substitutes ideally recapitulating the mechanical and biological properties of the healthy ones. Drug delivery systems can be directly implemented at regions of interest to improve, for example, hemocompatibility and bacterial resistance. At the same time, 3D in vitro models with tissue-specific cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction are a powerful tool for the study of cardiovascular disease onset and progression. They can also be used for drug screening, directly on human (patient-specific) cells, especially in combination with microfluidics systems to recapitulate (patho) physiological hemodynamic load conditions.
Furthermore, 3D printed elastomeric models that reconstruct the anatomy of cardiovascular components based on patients’ CT data enable the careful planning of surgical and minimally invasive interventions, facilitating the decision-making process of surgeons and cardiologists on the best therapy for the patient, while supporting the formation and training of medical students.
This Research Topic will cover cutting-edge research in different applications of AM in cardiovascular research and all article types including Original Research, Reviews and Perspectives. This Research Topic welcomes the submission of articles that focus on:
• Development and application of 3D-models for surgical/minimally invasive intervention planning and medical device testing
• Development of patient-specific 3D-printed cardiovascular stents, vascular grafts and heart valves
• Development of 3D-printed cardiovascular grafts with controlled drug delivery systems
• Development of 3D microfluidic cardiovascular models for drug screening
• Bioprinting of cardiovascular tissues
• The future of 3D-printing in cardiovascular disease: therapies and 3D in vitro models
We would like to acknowledge Dr. Fatemeh Kabirian has acted as coordinator and has contributed to the preparation of the proposal for this Research Topic.
Prof. Mela hold patents related to photochemical manufacturing. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
Keywords: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing, Bioprinting, Cardiovascular Grafts, Vascular Stents, Cardiovascular models, Cardiac tissue, Tissue Engineering
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
