Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
Small. 2024 Feb;20(8):e2307928. doi: 10.1002/smll.202307928. Epub 2023 Oct 12.
Bulk hydrogel scaffolds are common in reconstructive surgery. They allow for the staged repair of soft tissue loss by providing a base for revascularization. Unfortunately, they are limited by both slow and random vascularization, which may manifest as treatment failure or suboptimal repair. Rapidly inducing patterned vascularization within biomaterials has profound translational implications for current clinical treatment paradigms and the scaleup of regenerative engineering platforms. To address this long-standing challenge, a novel microsurgical approach and granular hydrogel scaffold (GHS) technology are co-developed to hasten and pattern microvascular network formation. In surgical micropuncture (MP), targeted recipient blood vessels are perforated using a microneedle to accelerate cell extravasation and angiogenic outgrowth. By combining MP with an adjacent GHS with precisely tailored void space architecture, microvascular pattern formation as assessed by density, diameter, length, and intercapillary distance is rapidly guided. This work opens new translational opportunities for microvascular engineering, advancing reconstructive surgery, and regenerative medicine.
块状水凝胶支架在重建外科中很常见。它们通过为血管生成提供基础，允许分期修复软组织缺失。然而，它们受到缓慢和随机血管生成的限制，这可能表现为治疗失败或修复效果不理想。在生物材料中快速诱导图案化血管生成对当前的临床治疗模式和再生工程平台的规模化具有深远的转化意义。为了解决这一长期存在的挑战，开发了一种新的显微外科方法和颗粒状水凝胶支架 (GHS) 技术，以加速和模式化微血管网络的形成。在外科微穿刺 (MP) 中，使用微针刺穿靶向受血管，以加速细胞渗出和血管生成性生长。通过将 MP 与具有精确设计的空隙空间结构的相邻 GHS 相结合，可以快速引导微血管模式的形成，评估密度、直径、长度和毛细血管间距离。这项工作为微血管工程开辟了新的转化机会，推进了重建外科和再生医学。
