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Organ Weaving: Woven Threads and Sheets As a Step Towards a New Strategy for Artificial Organ Development
Author(s) -
Liberski Albert R.,
Delaney Joseph T.,
Schäfer Hendrik,
Perelaer Jolke,
Schubert Ulrich S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201100086
Subject(s) - weaving , nanotechnology , tissue engineering , scaffold , sodium alginate , suspension (topology) , materials science , computer science , polymer science , biomedical engineering , engineering , sodium , composite material , mathematics , homotopy , pure mathematics , metallurgy
The concept of “organ weaving” is presented, a fabrication technique that can be an attractive option for the development of artificial tissues and organs. “Living threads” are created by immersing threads that are soaked in a CaCl 2 solution into a sodium‐alginate‐loaded cell suspension bath, encapsulating the cells and creating a bio‐friendly, easily manageable starting material for building up larger scaffold structures. Such living threads have the advantage of being a particularly mild culturing medium for mammalian cells, protecting the cells during subsequent processing steps from dehydration and other rapid changes in the chemistry of the surrounding environment. Connecting different types of threads into 3D objects gives unique opportunities to address tissue engineering challenges.