Multilayer Tissue Constructs for Nutrient Perfusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tissue engineering techniques face challenges in creating thick tissue constructs for clinically relevant defects and cosmetic applications due to limited nutrient perfusion, leading to potential cellular starvation and unpredictable results in soft tissue augmentation.
Innovation Solution
The development of tissue engineered constructs (TECs) comprising cells, scaffolding, and optional nutrients and growth factors, formed through methods such as bioprinting and layer assembly, to facilitate nutrient exchange and waste removal, with the use of biocompatible adhesives and hydrogel materials to create multilayer constructs that mimic natural tissue structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If thick tissue constructs are created to fill clinically relevant defects, then volume and structural integrity are improved, but nutrient perfusion deteriorates due to limited diffusion distance
Solution Approach 1:
The construct is divided into multiple thin layers, each with sufficient nutrient perfusion, stacked together to achieve the required thickness. This segmentation allows each layer to maintain cellular viability through adequate nutrient diffusion while the stacked configuration achieves the necessary overall thickness for clinically relevant defects.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a single thick construct to a multilayered configuration, adding the dimension of layer stacking. This dimensional approach allows the construct to achieve required thickness through vertical stacking of thin, viable layers rather than creating a single thick layer that would compromise cellular viability.
2Reliability
If multiple thin layers are assembled to achieve required thickness, then nutrient perfusion is maintained, but device complexity increases due to multiple assembly steps
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple thin layers are combined into a single integrated multilayer construct. This merging approach maintains the nutrient perfusion benefits of thin layers while presenting the final product as a unified device, reducing the complexity of assembly during implantation compared to handling and assembling separate components.
Solution Approach 2:
The multilayer construct is pre-assembled and pre-integrated before implantation. This preliminary action allows the complex multilayer structure to be prepared in advance under controlled conditions, simplifying the implantation procedure and reducing the complexity experienced during the actual surgical procedure.
3Reliability
If multilayer constructs are used to achieve clinically relevant thickness, then cellular viability is maintained, but manufacturing precision requirements increase for layer alignment and bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The bonding interface between layers is designed to create uniform bonding conditions across the entire layer interface. This equipotential approach ensures consistent adhesive distribution and bonding strength across all layer interfaces, reducing the precision requirements for layer alignment during manufacturing and assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive properties of the bonding layer are optimized to provide adequate bonding strength with minimal alignment precision requirements. By adjusting adhesive parameters such as viscosity, open time, and bonding strength, the system tolerates greater variations in layer alignment while maintaining construct integrity and cellular viability.
Data Source
AI summary
Tissue engineered constructs and methods for fabricating the disclosed constructs are provided. Some of the disclosed tissue engineered constructs are designed to fill a void in the body due to surgical resection, for example from mastectomy or lumpectomy, wounds and the like. Some disclosed constructs comprise one or more projections designed to mimic the appearance of a structural feature when implanted into a host.