Landau Shira, Szklanny Ariel A, Machour Majd, Kaplan Ben, Shandalov Yulia, Redenski Idan, Beckerman Margarita, Harari-Steinberg Orit, Zavin Janet, Karni-Katovitch Oryan, Goldfracht Idit, Michael Inbal, Waldman Stephen D, Duvdevani Shay I, Levenberg Shulamit
Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
Biofabrication. 2021 Dec 3;14(1). doi: 10.1088/1758-5090/ac3b91.
Microtia is a small, malformed external ear, which occurs at an incidence of 1-10 per 10 000 births. Autologous reconstruction using costal cartilage is the most widely accepted surgical microtia repair technique. Yet, the method involves donor-site pain and discomfort and relies on the artistic skill of the surgeon to create an aesthetic ear. This study employed novel tissue engineering techniques to overcome these limitations by developing a clinical-grade, 3D-printed biodegradable auricle scaffold that formed stable, custom-made neocartilage implants. The unique scaffold design combined strategically reinforced areas to maintain the complex topography of the outer ear and micropores to allow cell adhesion for the effective production of stable cartilage. The auricle construct was computed tomography (CT) scan-based composed of a 3D-printed clinical-grade polycaprolactone scaffold loaded with patient-derived chondrocytes produced from either auricular cartilage or costal cartilage biopsies combined with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Cartilage formation was measured within the construct, and cartilage maturation and stabilization were observed 12 weeks after its subcutaneous implantation into a murine model. The proposed technology is simple and effective and is expected to improve aesthetic outcomes and reduce patient discomfort.
小耳畸形是一种外耳小且畸形的病症，其发病率为每10000例出生中有1 - 10例。使用肋软骨进行自体重建是最广泛接受的小耳畸形手术修复技术。然而，该方法会导致供体部位疼痛和不适，并且依赖外科医生的艺术技巧来塑造美观的耳朵。本研究采用新型组织工程技术来克服这些局限性，开发了一种临床级的3D打印可生物降解耳廓支架，该支架可形成稳定的定制新软骨植入物。独特的支架设计结合了经过策略性加固的区域以维持外耳的复杂形态，以及微孔以允许细胞粘附，从而有效生成稳定的软骨。耳廓构建物基于计算机断层扫描（CT），由3D打印的临床级聚己内酯支架组成，该支架加载了从耳廓软骨或肋软骨活检产生的患者来源软骨细胞，并与脂肪来源的间充质干细胞相结合。在构建物内测量软骨形成情况，并在将其皮下植入小鼠模型12周后观察软骨的成熟和稳定情况。所提出的技术简单有效，有望改善美学效果并减轻患者不适。
