Advanced Functional Materials

Organoid‐Driven Open‐Flow Artificial Vessels Inspired by Insect Dorsal Vessel Circulation

Experiments in cellsInterventions
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Abstract

ABSTRACT Embedding functional fluid transport into living biohybrid devices remains a critical bottleneck for next‐generation engineered living systems. Conventional strategies rely on external pumps or sealed microfluidic structures, restricting biological compatibility and tissue integration. Inspired by the valveless open‐flow circulation of insect dorsal vessels, we developed a Liebau‐type biohybrid pumping system in which self‐beating myocardial organoid rings act as distributed biological actuators on compliant silicone conduits. A poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) based mechanically permissive culture platform supported ordered myocardial ring formation, while a plasma‐assisted fibrin interface supported tissue–conduit coupling under the tested conditions. Spontaneous myocardial contraction induced periodic conduit deformation and directional open‐flow transport, and spatially distributed ring assembly further enhanced transport output. Reduced elastohydrodynamic analysis supported a Liebau‐type valveless impedance‐pumping interpretation involving localized actuation, conduit compliance, fluid inertia, and geometric or boundary asymmetry. This bioinspired living conduit provides a materials‐integration framework for self‐actuated fluidic living systems and may inform future soft biohybrid robotic and organ‐chip transport platforms after further optimization of long‐term multi‐ring coordination, human‐cell compatibility, and device durability.

The paper

University of Science and Technology of China

Advanced Functional Materials, 10 Sep 2026

doi.org/10.1002/adfm.77880