(188ai) Modeling and Simulation of Engineered Cardiac Tissue Under Forced Perfusion

Cardiac grafts need to be sizeable to be practical for clinical use. Tissue sample growth is limited by the oxygen transport compared to its native tissue counterparts. Native tissue has the advantage of capillaries to facilitate mass transport, which is difficult to model in lab conditions. Consequently, oxygen transport in engineered tissues is largely limited to cell-to-cell transport, resulting in exponential cell death with respect to the thickness of the sample. If this anoxia issue is addressed, then there is better potential for cell viability and cultivation of sustainably large tissue samples.

An exploratory investigation has been conducted to mathematically model the oxygen transport in a cell culture affected by diffusion and forced perfusion. The approach is intended to study oxygen delivery and determine parameter ranges for optimal development of tissue cultures. Typical parameters analyzed include the role of porosity, tortuosity, effective diffusivity, and advection in oxygen gradient through samples. Collectively, these factors have an effect on the effective distribution of oxygen.

The results of this contribution can be used as a baseline for the redesign of development protocol for engineered tissue. Different case scenarios will be presented to demonstrate optimal oxygen distribution. Stagnant points to oxygen dispersion are identified and a significant reduction of death rate is predicted as well as the time to reach steady state of maximum oxygen concentration.