  Vascular networks play a key role in the development, function, and survival
of many organisms, facilitating transport of nutrients and other critical
factors within and between systems. The development of these vessel networks
has been thoroughly explored in a variety of in vivo, in vitro and in silico
contexts. However, the role of interactions between the growing vasculature and
its environment remains largely unresolved, particularly concerning mechanical
effects. Motivated by this gap in understanding, we develop a computational
framework that is tailored to exploring the role of the mechanical environment
on the formation of vascular networks. Here, we describe, document, implement,
and explore an agent-based modelling framework, resolving the growth of
individual vessels and seeking to capture phenomenology and intuitive
qualitative mechanisms. In our explorations, we demonstrate that such a model
can successfully reproduce familiar network structures, whilst highlighting the
roles that mechanical influences could play in vascular development. For
instance, we illustrate how an external substrate could act as an effective
shared memory for the periodic regrowth of vasculature. We also observe the
emergence of a nuanced collective behaviour and clustered vessel growth, which
results from mechanical characteristics of the external environment.
