OPTICAL EVALUATION OF ENGINEERED TISSUE CONSTRUCTS

这个子项目是利用资源的许多研究子项目之一。 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。对子项目的主要支持 子项目的首席调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括美国国立卫生研究院的其他来源。为子项目列出的总成本可能 表示该子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 不是由NCRR赠款提供给次级项目或次级项目工作人员的直接资金。 组织工程学具有巨大的潜力来替代或恢复多种组织的功能。然而，尽管支架材料以及干细胞保存和分化方面取得了进展，但最成功的应用仍然是在薄(2毫米)的无血管组织中，在这些组织中，必需营养的输送主要通过扩散进行。更复杂的器官或更厚的结缔组织(&gt；1厘米)只有在组织迅速血管化的情况下才能存活，从而确保所有细胞都获得足够的氧气和营养供应。超过扩散限制的厚组织的发展可能仍然是组织工程领域面临的最大挑战。在过去的十年里 为我们对新血管形成的理解带来了巨大的进步，为血管化厚重可植入组织的创新设计提供了丰富的环境。在体外，种植了基质细胞和内皮细胞的工程化组织已经被证明形成了一个广泛的相互连接的血管网络。血管前组织，如这些，然后可以被植入宿主，随后与宿主循环形成功能连接。这导致了潜在的厚的工程化组织的非常快速的灌流。当与广域功能成像(WiFi)相结合来测量植入物的灌注和新陈代谢的变化时，这些策略将克服组织工程领域中最重要的障碍。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Tissue engineering holds enormous potential to replace or restore function to a wide range of tissues. However, despite advances in materials for scaffolding, and stem cell preservation and differentiation, the most successful applications have continued to be in thin (< 2 mm) avascular tissues in which delivery of essential nutrients occurs primarily by diffusion. More complex organs or thicker connective tissue (>1cm) will only survive when implanted if the tissue is rapidly vascularized, thereby ensuring that all cells receive an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients. The development of thick tissues beyond the diffusion limitation remains, perhaps, the greatest challenge facing the field of tissue engineering. The past decade has brought tremendous advances in our understanding of new blood vessel formation, providing a rich environment for innovative designs of vascularized thick implantable tissues. Engineered tissues seeded with both stromal and endothelial cells have been shown to form an extensive interconnected vascular network in vitro. Prevascularized tissues, such as these, can then be implanted into a host and subsequently form functional junctions with the host circulation. This results in very rapid perfusion of potentially thick engineered tissues. When combined with Wide Field Functional Imaging (WiFI) to measure changes in implant perfusion and metabolism, these strategies stand to overcome the most significant impediments in the field of tissue engineered.