FIBRE-REINFORCED TISSUE ENGINEERING SCAFFOLDS - Isis Project No 2661

Reinforcing scaffolds with fibres provides a mechanism to mimic the mechanical properties of organs and tissues

MARKETING OPPORTUNITY

The use of a scaffold in tissue engineering is necessary to act as a substrate for cellular attachment and to encourage the cells to repopulate the scaffold in three dimensions. There is a continuing need to include reinforcement structures within the scaffolds to confer mechanical properties and improve the performance characteristics of the scaffolds.

THE OXFORD INVENTION

The invention involves the fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering, which can be reinforced in the required direction by selective orientation of fibres. The exact orientation of the fibres has an impact on the mechanical properties of the scaffold and makes them ideally suited for heart valve, blood vessel and tendon regeneration.

Multiple strands cut from a membrane of either a single extracellular matrix protein or a composite of different extracellular matrix proteins are coiled together to create the fibres. These fibres are embedded into a membrane in preferential directions. The selective positioning of the fibres means that different sections within the same membrane have different mechanical properties. The fibres can also be embedded in a porous matrix or a hybrid structure of a porous matrix and a membrane. The resultant scaffold can therefore, be designed with mechanical properties, which mimic that of the organ or tissue for which the scaffold is to act as a replacement.

PATENT STATUS

This work is the subject of patent application, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents. Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further.

Request Further Information: Project Number 2661 - Fibre-Reinforced Tissue Engineering Scaffolds