3D Printed Patches for Esophageal Tissue Engineering

Introduction

Every year about 5,000–10,000 patients are diagnosed with esophageal diseases for which esophageal replacement is needed [Maghsoudlou et al., Tissue engineering of the esophagus, Seminars in Pediatric Surgery, (2014)]. Current choices for esophageal replacement involve the use of more distal parts of the gastrointestinal tract or colon, with long-term problems associated to these technique – such as graft failure, recurrent strictures, retarded voice rehabilitation and lifelong immunosuppression therapy. In view of such limitations, the immense potential offered by tissue engineering has been recognized and can be exploited as a good alternative for esophageal replacement. An esophageal scaffold must provide the necessary features – such as porosity, pore size and surface chemistry – to facilitate cell attachment and proliferation and the mechanical properties suitable to accomplish esophageal tissues function. Two biocompatible polymers have shown promising results for esophageal tissue engineering and for the creation of biocompatible and biodegradable patches for esophageal injuries: polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL). Scaffolds and patches can be prepared by solvent casting or electrospinning techniques.