title: Development of biodegradable scaffolds based on patient-specific arterial configuration.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Micro-Nano Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oura
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.forename: Takuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Takehisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Negoro
authors.forename: Fumihito
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arai
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000378:metabolism*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004548:Elasticity; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010361:Patients; D011091:Polyesters / Q000378:metabolism*; D016062:Porosity; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011091:Polyesters; C523703:poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-epsilon-caprolactone)