Biological characterisation of tissue-engineered vascular grafts

Abstract

This thesis describes the development of tissue-engineered (TE) autologous vascular prostheses, exclusively composed of biological materials and vascular cells, especially for small-diameter applications. A TE construct mimicking the media (middle layer) of a natural blood vessel in terms of morphology, mechanical strength 1 and appropriate cellular functions was produced. In addition, several methods to evaluate tissue homeostasis in the TE constructs were investigated