Fig. 1. Engineering-driven approaches for vascular network fabrication.

a | Microfabrication enables the creation of complex perfusable microfluidic networks in a thin moulding plane by spatially arranging cells and materials at the microscale. b | Layer-by-layer approaches stack, align and laminate multiple microfabricated layers to increase tissue thickness compared with single-layer microfabricated networks. c | Laser degradation uses tools such as multiphoton microscopes to locally degrade photosensitive hydrogels, enabling the user to ‘write’ complex and precise 3D microchannel networks with lumens down to the capillary size scale. d | Bioprinting enables volumetric fabrication of vascular networks at greater scale and speed than laser degradation, albeit with lower resolution. Panel d adapted from ref.⁵⁸, Springer Nature Limited.