Microfluidic tissue: A biodegradable scaffold with built-in vasculature for cardiac tissue vascularization and surgical vascular anastomosis

To tackle tissue vascularization, a robust 3-D micro-patterning technique was developed to create complex bioscaffolds from a synthetic biodegradable elastomer (Poly(octamethylene maleate (anhydride) citrate) by pre-patterning, solidifying, and stamping thin polymer sheets layer-by-layer to form intricate micro-structures. The bio-scaffold contains an 3-D perfusable branched network which supports the assembly of vascularized cardiac tissues with co-culture of human endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes (rat or human). Engineered microfluidic tissues were also surgically connected in vivo to the femoral artery of a murine model for the first time. Microfluidic tissues described here could act as a cornerstone for future functional tissue replacement strategies.