The study’s MIT co-authors include Sina Kheiri, Jessica Shah, Shashaank Venkatesh, and Roger Kamm, along with Peiyuan Chai and Ryan Flynn at Harvard University.

“Moving is good”

Blood vessels are tricky to grow and control using conventional fabrication techniques. While 3D printers can produce vessels at the scale of major arteries and veins, the technology is not precise enough to print intricate networks of much finer, thread-like capillaries. Scientists have had some success with growing blood vessels from individual cells, by cultivating them in Petri dishes filled with nutrients and growth factors. But controlling how and where they grow remains a challenge.