LLNL develops first-ever living, 3D-bioprinted aneurysm to test surgical treatments

Brain aneurysms affect about one in every 50 Americans and can lead to serious medical emergencies, including stroke, brain damage and death if they burst. Existing treatment options are limited and often invasive, and surgical outcomes can vary widely from person to person.
But medical practitioners may be able to improve existing treatment methods and develop new personalized ones, thanks to researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and their outside collaborators. The team, which includes scientists at Duke University and Texas A&M, has become the first to produce a living, bioprinted aneurysm outside of the human body, perform a medical procedure on it, and observe it respond and heal as it would in an actual human brain.
By Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory