Abstract:
In embodiments of the present invention, a biodegradable/biodegradable polymer film may be used as a scaffold for tissue engineering scaffolds for engineering organized organs, such as vascular grafts, for example. In one embodiment, an ultraviolet (UV) resin made from a diacrylated biodegradable oligomer is molded into a flexible scaffold having cavities and/or channels. Channel/cavity size may be on the order of micrometers and/or nanometers, and thus the walls may have high aspect ratios. Smooth muscle cells may be deposited in the channels and because of the high aspect ratios, the cells may align along the channels/cavities as confluence is reached.