Biomimetic collagen tubular constructs for vascular and tracheal grafting – MIMETUBE

MIMETUBE aims at providing new types of tubular biomaterials to address unmet clinical needs in vascular and thoracic surgery, and to serve as platforms for fundamental investigations of graft integration and tissue regeneration. The consortium gathers materials scientists, physicists, physiologists and surgeons sharing a strong interest for bioengineering. The processing strategy relies on ice-templating of highly concentrated type I collagen materials coupled with topotactic fibrillogenesis – recently reported by the LCMCP. The resulting hierarchical materials display biomimetic assembly of collagen fibres as well as stabilization of the macroscopic features required for surgical application. By providing on-demand tissues with precisely modulated properties, including geometrical and mechanical features, MIMETUBE aims at dramatically increasing the availability of grafts for both treatment of peripheral arterial disease and airway transplantation.