The study and characterisation of perfusion pressure on decellularisation of porcine oesophagi

Abstract

In the field of tissue engineering, new forms of materials for oesophageal reconstruction are being utilized. Specifically, scaffolds derived from the decellularised extracellular matrix (ECM) are researched as they provided an ideal environment for tissue regeneration. Oesophagus ECM structures produced through the decellularisation process should retain native internal folded structures. This not only improves the structure in which host cells can regenerate from but also improves the functions of the regenerated section of oesophagus thus leading to fewer side-effects such as gastric reflux. The research was conducted on current methods of SDS perfusion decellularisation (horizontal and vertical) to study the effects of perfusion pressure on the retention of folded mucosae structures in resulting scaffold structures. Likewise, further experiments were conducted utilizing mesh structures to limit expansion in the vertical decellularisation process to improve retention of native folded structures in decellularised material. Results from this study showed that there must be external constraints imposed on the oesophagus specimen during the decellularisation process. Either through the horizontal decellularisation method or vertical meshed decellularisation, these limitations are observed to improve the retention of native folded structures in the resulting ECM scaffolds produced.