Design and development of an automated device for the seeding of tissue-engineered vascular grafts

Abstract

Vascular bypass aims at restoring normal blood circulation in cardiovascular diseases affecting blood vessels. Currently used vascular prostheses, such as autologous vessels or non-biodegradable polymeric conduits suffer of several limitations, like limited availability, poor quality, low patency, thrombotic occlusion etc. Hence, the generation of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) with similar structural and mechanical properties to those of native blood vessels represents a hot topic in the field of cardiovascular regenerative medicine. This approach allows the construction of TEVGs using scaffolds, cells and a bioreactor. The scaffold material as well as the cell type used for seeding the scaffold play an important role in determining the properties of a TEVG. In fact, cells and their seeding lead to a precise ECM production and composition, which will then affect the mechanical properties as well as graft remodeling potential upon implantation. In this study, we assessed the feasibility to produce an automated cell seeding device, designed manufactured to guarantee uniformity, efficiency, and reproducibility of user-independent cell seeding technique. in comparison to other seeding approaches, this method will allow for a homogeneous cell distribution onto the grafts and avoid the cell being suspended for a long period and potential subsequent detrimental effects.