Journal
JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 133, Issue 2, Pages 213-218Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2007.08.017
Keywords
arterial tissue engineering; rapid prototyping; patient-specific; biodegradable scaffold; compliance; salt leaching
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Biodegradable scaffolds are of great value in tissue engineering. We have developed a method for fabricating patient-specific vascular scaffolds from a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone). This method's usefulness is due to flexibility in the choice of materials and vascular configurations. Here, we present a way to fabricate scaffolds of human carotid artery by combining processes of rapid prototyping, lost wax, dip coating, selective dissolution, and salt leaching. The result was the successful development of porous biodegradable scaffolds, with mechanical strength covering the range of human blood vessels (1-3 MPa). Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were also cultured on the scaffolds and their biocompatibility was confirmed by cell growth. The Young's modulus of scaffolds could be controlled by changing polymer concentration and porosity. The wall thickness of the tubular scaffold was also controllable by adjusting polymer concentration and pull-up velocity during dip coating. We believe that this fabrication technique can be applied to patient-specific regeneration of blood vessels. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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