Tailor-Made and Biodegradable Vascular Scaffolds - Microsurgery: Advances, Simulations, and Applications - page 266

coniguration will it surrounding vascular tissues at early stage.
Recently, our group established a unique method for fabricating
3D elastomeric models of patient-speciic arteries to simulate
intravascular surgery [15] and to evaluate the stress condition
inside a blood vessel [16]. The introduction of these reconstructive
techniques into tissue engineering enables the development of
tailored biodegradable scaffolds based on CT data of patients. Based
on this motivation, in this research, we aim to fabricate biodegradable
and porous scaffolds with patient-speciic arterial coniguration.

8.2 Preparation of Polymer Solution Including

Salt Microparticles

High-molecular-weight equimolar PLCL possesses elasticity [7],
mechanoactivity [9], and bioactivity [10] and is an appropriate
biodegradable material for artiicial vascular constructs. Based
on these studies, a 5 w% solution of PLCL (molar ratio: 50:50,
molecular weight: 4.05 10 5 , BMG Inc., Japan) in chloroform

(Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., Japan) was prepared. Then
NaCl microparticles (diameter: 90-106 μ m) ground with a mortar
were added to the polymer solution. The diameter of the NaCl
microparticles was maintained between 90 and 106 μ m by passing
them through two sieves. A 3.3

×

w% solution of NaCl microparticles
in the polymer solution (in chloroform) was used for the fabrication
of carotid artery scaffolds, while a 0-8 w% solution in chloroform
was used for the tensile tests (Table 8.1).

Table 8.1 Average Young's modulus of scaffolds at different polymer

compositions

Porosity PLCL 3%

in CHCl 3

PLCL 5%
in CHCl 3

PLCL 10%
in CHCl 3

NaCl : PLCL = 0 : 10 2.4 MPa 4.0 MPa 5.2 MPa

NaCl : PLCL = 2 : 8 2.2 MPa 2.6 MPa 3.3 MPa

NaCl : PLCL = 4 : 6 1.6 MPa 1.8 MPa 2.0 MPa

NaCl : PLCL = 6 : 4 1.0 MPa 1.3 MPa 1.8 MPa

NaCl : PLCL = 8 : 2 0.6 MPa 0.8 MPa MPa