Seamless tubular poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffolds: high-yield fabrication and potential applications

We have previously created scaffolds composed of a biodegradable elastomer, poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS), which are tubular, seamless, and highly porous. Here we describe two scaffold fabrication methods developed subsequently and compare the advantages of these methods to the original by examining overall yields and scaffold characteristics, such as defect frequency and severity, wall thickness homogeneity, microstructure, porosity, and mechanical properties. Scaffolds fabricated with a heat-shrinkable (HS) mandrel had higher yield, fewer defects, more homogeneous wall thickness and microstructure, and higher porosity. Improvements in yield and scaffold characteristics likely resulted from more uniform distribution of forces resulting in lower stress concentrations in the scaffolds during removal of HS mandrels. When seeded with smooth muscle cells in a bioreactor, the optimized scaffolds retained 74% of cells, which proliferated and formed a confluent cellular layer after 21 days of in vitro culture.