Institute for Clinical and Experimental Surgery, University of Saarland, Homburg/Saar, Germany.
Eur Cell Mater. 2011 Sep 20;22:147-64; discussion 164-7. doi: 10.22203/ecm.v022a12.
The implantation of biomaterials into the human body has become an indispensable part of almost all fields of modern medicine. Accordingly, there is an increasing need for appropriate approaches, which can be used to evaluate the suitability of different biomaterials for distinct clinical indications. The dorsal skinfold chamber is a sophisticated experimental model, which has been proven to be extremely valuable for the systematic in vivo analysis of the dynamic interaction of small biomaterial implants with the surrounding host tissue in rats, hamsters and mice. By means of intravital fluorescence microscopy, this chronic model allows for repeated analyses of various cellular, molecular and microvascular mechanisms, which are involved in the early inflammatory and angiogenic host tissue response to biomaterials during the initial 2-3 weeks after implantation. Therefore, the dorsal skinfold chamber has been broadly used during the last two decades to assess the in vivo performance of prosthetic vascular grafts, metallic implants, surgical meshes, bone substitutes, scaffolds for tissue engineering, as well as for locally or systemically applied drug delivery systems. These studies have contributed to identify basic material properties determining the biocompatibility of the implants and vascular ingrowth into their surface or internal structures. Thus, the dorsal skinfold chamber model does not only provide deep insights into the complex interactions of biomaterials with the surrounding soft tissues of the host but also represents an important tool for the future development of novel biomaterials aiming at an optimisation of their biofunctionality in clinical practice.
生物材料植入人体已成为几乎所有现代医学领域不可或缺的一部分。因此，人们越来越需要合适的方法来评估不同生物材料对不同临床适应症的适用性。背部皮褶室是一种复杂的实验模型，已被证明在大鼠、仓鼠和小鼠中对小生物材料植入物与周围宿主组织的动态相互作用的系统体内分析非常有价值。通过活体荧光显微镜，这种慢性模型允许对各种细胞、分子和微血管机制进行重复分析，这些机制涉及植入后最初 2-3 周内生物材料对宿主组织的早期炎症和血管生成反应。因此，在过去的二十年中，背部皮褶室广泛用于评估假体血管移植物、金属植入物、手术网片、骨替代物、组织工程支架以及局部或系统应用的药物输送系统的体内性能。这些研究有助于确定决定植入物生物相容性和血管向其表面或内部结构生长的基本材料特性。因此，背部皮褶室模型不仅提供了对生物材料与宿主周围软组织复杂相互作用的深入了解，而且还是未来开发旨在优化其在临床实践中的生物功能的新型生物材料的重要工具。
