TY - JOUR
AU1 - Levesque, Philippe
AU2 - Gauvin, Robert
AU3 - Larouche, Danielle
AU4 - Auger, François
AU5 - Germain, Lucie
AB - Tissue-engineered blood vessels can be partly characterized by analyzing their mechanical properties using burst pressure testing, compliance measurement, creep and cyclic testing. Studying these parameters provides information on the capability of a fabrication method to produce tissue-engineered blood vessels (TEBV) and allow for the optimization of their resistance and viscoelastic properties. This study presents the design and fabrication of an apparatus allowing accurate and reliable measurements of the mechanical properties of tissue-engineered vascular constructs. A computer-controlled system was designed to monitor pressure and diameter variations of vascular constructs submitted to hydrostatic loading. The system was programmed to control the motorized portion of the setup and allow simultaneous data acquisition, analysis and real-time display. Data acquisition cards allow for synchronous monitoring of pressure and diameter of the constructs through a pressure transducer and a CCD camera. Image analysis and pressure data computation resulted in compliance, creep and dynamic characterization of the tested tissues. This experimental setup succeeded in measuring the burst pressure, compliance, creep and cyclic behavior of tissue-engineered vascular media (TEVM), adventitia (TEVA) and a combination of a media and an adventitia (TEVMA) reconstructed by the self-assembly method. Our apparatus has proven to be a precise and reliable tool for the characterization of the mechanical properties of vascular constructs.
TI - A Computer-Controlled Apparatus for the Characterization of Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties of Tissue-Engineered Vascular Constructs
JF - Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology
DO - 10.1007/s13239-011-0033-y
DA - 2011-01-25
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/a-computer-controlled-apparatus-for-the-characterization-of-mechanical-Kw10JiZK8H
SP - 24
EP - 34
VL - 2
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -