Advantages of selected natural and synthetic materials as scaffolds in vascular tissue engineering

The development of tissue engineering provides various opportunities to vascular tissue engineering. Scaffold plays an essential role in vascular tissue engineering. The selection of biomaterials used as scaffolds will determine the success of vascular tissue engineering. The structure of vascular system, which consists of three layers, is embedded in extracellular matrices that provide the mechanical properties of the system. Therefore, tissue engineering of a vascular structure needs various suitable biomaterials as scaffold that can support vascular system mechanical properties and function. Various materials were used for 3D printing and electro-spinning with good results, including collagen, gelatin, and alginate. Varying sizes of blood vessels require scaffolds with biomaterials that could adapt to their shape, size and approximate the mechanical properties of the blood vessels.