Method for creating an internal transport system within tissue scaffolds using computer-aided tissue engineering
First Claim
1. An artificial tissue comprising an internal mass transport network having a plurality of channels, wherein the internal mass transport network comprises a biodegradable transporting material that is substantially free of suspended cells, and which is simultaneously deposited in a pattern with a scaffold material to form a plurality of layers of the artificial tissue, and wherein the channels are designed to substantially mimic a naturally occurring vascular network, such that the internal mass transport network creates a basic circulatory system within the scaffold, and wherein the internal mass transport network having a plurality of channels comprises the void space remaining after the biodegradable transporting material has biodegraded.
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Abstract
An artificial tissue including an internal mass transport network having a plurality of channels, wherein the channels are designed to substantially mimic naturally occurring vascular network and a method for creating an internal transport system within a tissue scaffold to improve circulation, diffusion, and mass transport properties by utilizing computer-aided tissue engineering (CATE). The artificial tissue has the internal mass transport network of channels embedded, deposited, or molded within a scaffold, wherein the channels are made from a biodegradable transporting material and the scaffold is made from a scaffold material. The artificial tissue of the invention includes a basic circulatory system embedded within the tissue scaffold. This system provides mass transport throughout the entire scaffold and degrades after the new circulatory system develops.
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8 Claims
- 1. An artificial tissue comprising an internal mass transport network having a plurality of channels, wherein the internal mass transport network comprises a biodegradable transporting material that is substantially free of suspended cells, and which is simultaneously deposited in a pattern with a scaffold material to form a plurality of layers of the artificial tissue, and wherein the channels are designed to substantially mimic a naturally occurring vascular network, such that the internal mass transport network creates a basic circulatory system within the scaffold, and wherein the internal mass transport network having a plurality of channels comprises the void space remaining after the biodegradable transporting material has biodegraded.
Specification