Open AccessEvaluation of Poly (Carbonate-Urethane) Urea (PCUU) Scaffolds for Urinary Bladder Tissue Engineering
Author(s) -
S. Sivaraman,
Nicholas J. Amoroso,
Xinzhu Gu,
J. Todd Purves,
Francis M. Hughes,
William R. Wagner,
Jiro Nagatomi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
annals of biomedical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1573-9686
pISSN - 0090-6964
DOI - 10.1007/s10439-018-02182-0
Subject(s) - tissue engineering , scaffold , connective tissue , biomedical engineering , urinary bladder , polycaprolactone , materials science , urology , medicine , composite material , polymer , pathology
Although the previous success of bladder tissue engineering demonstrated the feasibility of this technology, most polyester based scaffolds used in previous studies possess inadequate mechanical properties for organs that exhibit large deformation. The present study explored the use of various biodegradable elastomers as scaffolds for bladder tissue engineering and poly (carbonate-urethane) urea (PCUU) scaffolds mimicked urinary bladder mechanics more closely than polyglycerol sebacate-polycaprolactone (PGS-PCL) and poly (ether-urethane) urea (PEUU). The PCUU scaffolds also showed cyto-compatibility as well as increased porosity with increasing stretch indicating its ability to aid in infiltration of smooth muscle cells. Moreover, a bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) rat model was used to test the safety and efficacy of the PCUU scaffolds in treating a voiding dysfunction. Bladder augmentation with PCUU scaffolds led to enhanced survival of the rats and an increase in the bladder capacity and voiding volume over a 3 week period, indicating that the high-pressure bladder symptom common to BOO was alleviated. The histological analysis of the explanted scaffold demonstrated smooth muscle cell and connective tissue infiltration. The knowledge gained in the present study should contribute towards future improvement of bladder tissue engineering technology to ultimately aide in the treatment of bladder disorders.