Giacomo Bignante
Bioengineered artificial pancreas for diabetes treatment.
Rel. Valentina Alice Cauda. Politecnico di Torino, Master of science program in Biomedical Engineering, 2023
Abstract
Cell encapsulation has emerged as a strategy to protect transplanted cells from immune rejection in the treatment of endocrine disorders. Encapsulated cells are physically isolated from the immune system, thus overcoming the need for harsh immunosuppressant drugs. However, inadequate oxygen and nutrient supply is a major limiting factor of these systems. To address these issues, Dr. Alessandro Grattoni's group at the Houston Methodist Research Institute developed a dual-reservoir neovascularized implantable cell encapsulation and homing (NICHE) device, which integrates in situ prevascularization and local immunosuppressant delivery. The NICHE is 3D printed using biocompatible polyamide 2200 and the two independent cell and drug reservoirs are separated by a nanoporous membrane for sustained immunosuppressant release.
The objective of this thesis was to improve the distribution of pancreatic islets within the NICHE cell reservoir by creating a U-shaped distribution to facilitate optimal space utilization
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