Physics can be used to "grow" a realistic map of human blood vessels without using a 3D printer.
Creating models of the human vascular system is usually a slow, manual process of carving or printing tiny tubes. This new method uses a modified Hele-Shaw cell to let fluid instabilities spontaneously create fractal-like networks. These networks perfectly mimic the complex branching of real human arteries and veins. Because they are grown by physics rather than designed by hand, they capture the natural randomness of biological structures. This provides a much better way to test how blood flows through the body or how drugs travel through the bloodstream.
Vascular tree structure-based perfusion phantom fabrication using modified Hele-Shaw Cell technique
bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.04.29.721575
Tissue phantoms that mimic microvasculature and perfusion are essential for modelling vascular function, guiding interventions, and calibrating imaging systems, which require faithful replication of vascular geometry and flow. Conventional fabrication strategies, including wire based molding, lithographic micromachining, and additive manufacturing, offer useful capabilities but remain constrained by predefined designs, rectangular channel cross sections, limited scalability, and high production