Microfabrication of capillary system using a perfusion cell chamber

Nowadays, the biological tissue realized in vitro at experimental level, is characterised by thickness to the order of a few millimetres. This is related to the limitation of the diffusive transport of oxygen, nutrients and metabolic by-products. These results are incompatible with the realization of tissue which has relevant thickness or which requires a high vascularisation level (e.g. liver, heart, lungs). The attempts to create a vascular bed, integrated on bioartificial tissue, still remains in preliminary phases. The aim of the present study is to realize in vitro microvascular structures for Tissue Engineering applications. We designed and realized a culture chamber that allows the seeding, the development and the perfusion of cellular microvessels. The strategy adopted consist of the use of cylindrical polymeric scaffolds, onto which cells of the connective tissue (murine fibroblasts) can adhere and proliferate.