A Self-Regenerative Hybrid Tissue Structure For 3D Fabrication of Heart Valves, Blood Vessels and Other Constructs

Brief Description

Researchers at UC Irvine have developed a biocompatible and mechanically stable scaffold for engineering tissues that are capable of self-renewal. The hybrid tissue may be used as replacement heart valve leaflets and may also be used for tissue constructs like blood vessels.

Full Description

Existing scaffolds for building tissue constructs face drawbacks such as the leaching of toxic byproducts, provoking immunogenic reactions, and mechanical instability. Therefore, a continual need persists for a biocompatible and mechanically durable tissue construct.

Researchers at UC Irvine have developed a biocompatible, multi-layered scaffold construct that not only can withstand the physiological stresses within the body, but also continue to remodel and mature. The scaffold construct is composed of a wired mesh core that is entirely enwrapped in a three-dimensional manner with cells or materials of the user’s choice. The mesh core imparts biomechanical durability into the tissue construct, and allows for full integration of the formed tissue with the body.

Suggested uses

The tissue scaffold can be used to create engineered tissues such as heart valve leaflets or other vessel-like.

Advantages

The scaffold construct is built to be biomechanically resilient in order to withstand the physiological stresses inside the body. Furthermore the mesh core allows the cells and extracellular matrix components to fully interact with each other, resulting in a biocompatible tissue construct.

Patent Status