"Green vessels" for cardiovascular research

Giorgio Cattaneo’s group develops minimally invasive therapies — such as catheter and implant technologies — to treat cardio- and neurovascular diseases (affecting the blood vessels in the heart and brain), the leading causes of death worldwide.

Existing in vitro vascular models fail to mimic key aspects of human blood vessels, such as pulsation, fluid dynamics, and interaction with vascular cells. Animal models offer more complexity but come with ethical concerns, limited reproducibility, and no real-time monitoring.

Since 2019, at BMT, we have been creating next-generation vascular models, including:

• Patient-specific anatomies from medical imaging

• 3D-printed and molded materials with realistic mechanical properties

• Human endothelial cells to study implant-tissue interaction, thrombosis and vessel regeneration

We are pioneering use of tubular plants as vascular scaffolds in the RISC-funded Green Vessel project, exploring natural scaffolds as available and sustainable alternatives. These models reduce reliance on animal testing and provide a novel approach in the young and high-potential field of plant-based tissue engineering.