3D Bioprinting Pediatric Trachea

Abstract

Tracheal failures due to trauma, disease, or congenital anomalies, if not fatal, severely decrease quality of life. While small defects can be resolved surgically with resection and anastomosis, defects exceeding a critical length of trachea require graft material. This critical length varies from 50% in adults to 30% in children. Current silicone grafts pose further challenges for pediatric patients, who require yearly follow up surgeries to adjust the implant to their growing bodies. To assuage these challenges, the work in this thesis seeks to develop biologically derived grafts with the potential to grow and respond to the needs of pediatric patients. First, this work focuses on incorporating extracellular matrix (ECM) into bioinks for 3D bioprinting patient specific, tissue engineered constructs. The results discussed in this dissertation show while ECM is a powerful mediator of cell behavior, its efficacy can be inhibited by chemical modification. Lastly, this work investigates an in vivo rabbit model for evaluating tracheal transplants and poses further questions concerning the regenerative capabilities of tracheal cartilage.