Vascularization strategies for tissue engineers.

All tissue-engineered substitutes (with the exception of cornea and cartilage) require a vascular network to provide the nutrient and oxygen supply needed for their survival in vivo. Unfortunately the process of vascular ingrowth into an engineered tissue can take weeks to occur naturally and during this time the tissues become starved of essential nutrients, leading to tissue death. This review initially gives a brief overview of the processes and factors involved in the formation of new vasculature.

Finite element investigation of stentless pericardial aortic valves: relevance of leaflet geometry.

Recent developments in aortic valve replacement include the truly stentless pericardial bioprostheses with single point attached commissures (SPAC) implantation technique. The leaflet geometry available for the SPAC valves can either be a simple tubular or a complex three-dimensional structure molded using specially designed molds. Our main objective was to compare these two leaflet designs, the tubular vs.

Transection of anterior mitral basal stay chords alters left ventricular outflow dynamics and wall shear stress.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Anterior mitral basal stay chords are relocated to correct prolapse of the anterior mitral leaflet (AML); it has also been suggested that their transection might be used to treat functional ischemic mitral regurgitation. The study aim was to clarify the effect of stay chord transection (SCT) on the hemodynamic aspects of left ventricular outflow.

Methods: Two three-dimensional left ventricular models including the left ventricular outflow tract and saddle-shaped mitral valve before and after SCT were constructed.

Finite element simulation of food transport through the esophageal body.

The peristaltic transport of swallowed material in the esophagus is a neuro-muscular function involving the nerve control, bolus-structure interaction, and structure-mechanics relationship of the tissue. In this study, a finite element model (FEM) was developed to simulate food transport through the esophagus. The FEM consists of three components, i.