Ultrasound Computed Tomography for Imaging Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessel

Jaupi, Enxhi

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Ultrasound Computed Tomography for Imaging Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessel

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Tissue-engineered blood vessel (TEBV) technologies have made it possible to develop model systems to study cardiovascular disease pathology and discover new treatments. However, fabricating a TEBV is a complex process. A fully grown tissue typically needs several weeks to fabricate, and tissue development depends on several factors, including cell source and chemical and mechanical stimulation. Current evaluation tools like histology and scanning electron microscopy allow us to measure the geometry of the tissue but are destructive. Therefore, a new, non-destructive evaluation tool is needed to perform serial geometry measurements of the TEBV to monitor tissue development and remodeling. We proposed an ultrasound computer tomography (USCT) imaging system that provides an alternative way to achieve non-invasive TEBV growth monitoring. The USCT system consists of a single-element transducer that moves in a circular trajectory along the bioreactor and collects A-lines of the cross-section of the TEBV. A back-projection algorithm is used to reconstruct the image from acquired A-lines. First, we used a needle phantom to evaluate the point spread function (PSF) to validate the system. After the system was validated, TEBV was imaged. Next, we used histology to validate the dimensions of the TEBV obtained from the image. From the scanned image, we successfully visualized the cross-section of the TEBV. In addition, from the cross-section of the TEBV, we can measure the dimension of the tissue wall. Following USCT imaging, the TEBV was processed for histology and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining to measure TEBV wall thickness. Last, we compare the dimension tissue wall of the plot and the histology. The results demonstrated USCT imaging system could be an evaluating tool to provide serial, non-destructive geometry measurements of the TEBV during culture.

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