Bladder acellular matrix and its application in bladder augmentation

Over the last few decades, both synthetic and natural materials have been utilized to develop bladder substitutes. Most attempts have not been successful because of mechanical, structural, functional, or biocompatibility problems. Bladder acellular matrix (BAM) is obtained by removing cellular components from donor bladders, leaving a tissue matrix consisting of collagen, elastin, fibronectin, glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, and growth factors. Multiple BAM-based studies now suggest that tissue engineering techniques may provide efficacious alternatives to current methods of bladder augmentation. Efforts to optimize BAM-based scaffolds are ongoing and would be greatly assisted by feasible means of improving scaffold properties and interaction with cells and tissues. Future applications of BAM will likely include cell-seeded grafts with the eventual hope of producing "off the shelf" replacement materials for bladder augmentation.