Project Page - Hydrogel Encased Blood Vessel for Enhanced Vascular Delivery and Development

Created: July 21 2008

ACTION PLAN

HYDROGEL ENCASED BLOOD VESSEL TO DEVELOP VASCULARIZED SCAFFOLDS

A) Specific Aims

B) General Approach

C) Design and Fabrication of tissue engineered construct

D) Design Pitfalls and alternatives

E) Candidate Materials for Evaluation

F) Analytical approach Pre-Implantation

G) Analytical approach Post-Implantation

H) Future Directions

Background: Most approaches to scaffold vascularization encourage vascular ingress. Another approach may be to build a tissue engineered construct around a minor vessel that can subsequently be harvested for re-implantation as a vascularized scaffold elsewhere. This project proposes the use of the rat femoral artery as a means to investigate vasculogenesis in vivo.

A) SPECIFIC AIMS

AIM 1 - Encasement of a portion of the rat femoral artery by a gel based scaffold, Implant and assess vasculogenesis with a:

A) tubular scaffold

B) tubular, cell laden scaffold

C) tubular cell laden scaffold with growth factors

B) GENERAL APPROACH

1) Formation and crosslinking of scaffold around femoral artery - approx 3mm wide x 15mm long

C) DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF TE PRODUCT

Molding of scaffold in place. UV may be detrimental. Other ways to set gels ?

D) DESIGN PITFALLS AND ALTERNATIVES

E) CANDIDATE MATERIALS FOR INVESTIGATION

From In vivo chip

F) ANALYTICAL APPROACH PRE-IMPLANTATION

• • Test that we can mold large sized hydrogels

  • Can we mold around a vessel ?

  • Will pulsatile action degade gel or interface ?

G) ANALYTICAL APPROACH POST-IMPLANTATION

Micro CT image of contrast enhanced vasculature in mouse

H) FUTURE DIRECTIONS

• • Other cell types in a co-cullture in vivo environment.

  • Stem cell maturation

  • once encased perforate vessel and gel with thin needle. Possible track for vascularity.