Design and evaluation of a novel flow chamber for measuring cell adhesion to absorbable polymer films

There is great interest in improving cellular attachment to synthetic materials, particularly for developing small diameter tissue-engineered vascular grafts. However, limited research has been conducted to evaluate the adhesion characteristics of different cell types to absorbable substrates. Tissue engineered vessels typically fail as a result of delamination of the endothelial cell layer when exposed to fluid or blood flow. The focus of this research was to design and evaluate a flow chamber, using fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells, to probe the bounds of the system. A flow chamber was designed and fabricated to compare the relative adhesion characteristics of cells to absorbable polymer films. A preliminary investigation of mouse fibroblast (3T3M) adhesion to semicrystalline poly-L-lactide (PLL) films was conducted to determine general operating specifications. Cell coverage on films was evaluated using a live-dead assay and image analysis; following exposure to flow, tests were similarly conducted. Based on these results, additional studies were conducted to compare the adhesion of rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC) and endothelial cells (EC) on PLL films.