Scientists from Siberian State Medical University (SibSMU) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), within the framework of the BioVasc project, have created the first sterile bioreactor capsule for testing the compatibility of an organism and biomaterials. This was reported by the university's press service.
The project author, Ekaterina Marzol, a senior lecturer at the Department of Human Anatomy, developed a capsule made of polycaprolactone (a biocompatible polymer) for placing cells or new materials (hydrogels, composites) inside. This shell is attached to a large neurovascular bundle in a living organism.
The cells under study receive nourishment through natural blood flow. This approach allows scientists to assess the human body's reaction to new material, explained the university's press service.
The main engineering task we managed to solve was to combine two opposing functions in one device: reliable protection of cellular material from the immune system and its continuous nourishment.
There are no direct analogues of BioVasc in the world, Marzol emphasized.
The key advantage of the project is the high stability of the results. In experiments with the new capsule, the data spread is no more than 30%. This means that researchers can be confident in the reliability of the results. And the number of repeated experiments can be reduced.
Scientists want to scale up research, bringing it closer to clinical conditions. At this stage, the developers plan to bring BioVasc to market.