Schaefermeier P K, Szymanski D, Weiss F, Fu P, Lueth T, Schmitz C, Meiser B M, Reichart B, Sodian R
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Laboratory for Tissue Engineering, University Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
Eur Surg Res. 2009;42(1):49-53. doi: 10.1159/000168317. Epub 2008 Nov 6.
We developed a new fabrication technique for 3-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering of human heart valve tissue. A human aortic homograft was scanned with an X-ray computer tomograph. The data derived from the X-ray computed tomogram were processed by a computer-aided design program to reconstruct a human heart valve 3-dimensionally. Based on this stereolithographic model, a silicone valve model resembling a human aortic valve was generated. By taking advantage of the thermoplastic properties of polyglycolic acid as scaffold material, we molded a 3-dimensional scaffold for tissue engineering of human heart valves. The valve scaffold showed a deviation of only +/-3-4% in height, length and inner diameter compared with the homograft. The newly developed technique allows fabricating custom-made, patient-specific polymeric cardiovascular scaffolds for tissue engineering without requiring any suture materials.
