A Tissue Engineering (TE) approach to heart valve replacement has the aim of producing an implant that is identical to healthy tissue in morphology, function and immune recognition. The aim is to harvest tissue from a patient, establish cells in culture from this tissue and then use these cells to grow a new tissue in a desired shape for the implant. The scaffold material that supports the growth of cells into a desired shape may be composed of a biodegradable polymer that degrades over time, so that the final engineered implant is composed entirely of living tissue. The approach used at Swinburne University was to induce the desired mechanical and functional properties of tissue and is to be developed in an environment subjected to flow stresses that mimicked the haemodynamic forces that natural tissue experiences. The full attainment of natural biomechanical and morphological properties of a TE structure has not as yet been demonstrated.
In this thesis a review of Tissue Engineering of Heart Valves (TEHVs) is presented followed by an assessment of biocompatible materials currently used for TEHVs. The thrust of the work was the design and development of a Bioreactor (BR) system, capable of simulating the corresponding haemodynamic forces in vitro so that long-term cultivation of TEHVs and/or other structures can be mimicked. A full description of the developed BR and the verification of its functionality under various physiological conditions using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) are given. An analysis of the fluid flow and shear stress forces in and around a heart valve scaffold is also provided.
Finally, preliminary results related to a fabricated aortic TEHV-scaffold and the developed cell culture systems are presented and discussed. Attempts to establish viable cell lines from ovine cardiac tissue are also reported.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/216461 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Damen, Bas Stefaan, bsdamen@hotmail.com |
| Publisher | Swinburne University of Technology. n/a |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.swin.edu.au/), Copyright Bas Stefaan Damen |
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