title: Generating an Engineered Adipose Tissue Flap Using an External Suspension Device.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The tissue-engineering chamber technique can generate large volumes of adipose tissue, which provides a potential solution for the complex reconstruction of large soft-tissue defects. However, major drawbacks of this technique are the foreign-body reaction and the volume limitation imposed by the chamber.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the authors developed a novel tissue-engineering method using a specially designed external suspension device that generates an optimized volume of adipose flap and avoids the implantation of foreign material. The rabbits were processed using two different tissue-engineering methods, the external suspension device technique and the traditional tissue-engineering chamber technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The adipose flaps generated by the external suspension device had a normal adipose tissue structure that was as good as that generated by the traditional tissue-engineering chamber, but the flap volume was much larger. The final volume of the engineered adipose flap grew between weeks 0 and 36 from 5.1 ml to 30.7 ml in the traditional tissue-engineering chamber group and to 80.5 ml in the external suspension device group. During the generation process, there were no marked differences between the two methods in terms of structural and cellular changes of the flap, except that the flaps in the traditional tissue-engineering chamber group had a thicker capsule at the early stage. In addition, the enlarged flaps generated by the external suspension device could be reshaped into specific shapes by the implant chamber.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This minimally invasive external suspension device technique can generate large-volume adipose flaps. Combined with a reshaping method, this technique should facilitate clinical application of adipose tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|From the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University.
authors.forename: Jinlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|From the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University.
authors.forename: Ziqing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|From the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|From the Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000637:transplantation* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005549:Foreign-Body Reaction / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D023421:Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*