In the present work, the two-photon polymerization (2PP) technique was applied to develop precisely defined biodegradable 3D tissue engineering scaffolds. The scaffolds were fabricated via photopolymerization of gelatin modified with methacrylamide moieties. The results indicate that the gelatin derivative (GelMod) preserves its enzymatic degradation capability after photopolymerization. In addition, the developed scaffolds using 2PP support primary adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) adhesion, proliferation and differentiation into the anticipated lineage.

Ovine animal models are widely used to conduct preclinical studies, e.g., to evaluate cardiovascular prostheses intended to be applied in man. However, although analyzed in many of those studies, information about ovine blood reference values is scanty. The aim of this study is to establish a reference list of ovine blood parameters relevant for blood coagulation. A cohort of 47 mature ewes was evaluated. Parameters comprised the following: cells and cellular components—platelet, red, and white cell counts (including subsets), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and MCH concentration (MCHC); global tests of coagulation—prothrombin time (Quick’s time) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT); and parameters relevant for blood coagulation—fibrinogen, antithrombin (AT), and von Willebrand Factor. After explorative data analysis, a list of ovine reference values was established. Interestingly, a comparison with human reference values revealed some interspecies differences between sheep and man, i.e., much higher ovine ranges for some cell counts (neutrophils, lymphocytes, basophils, eosinophils, and platelets) but lower values for some other parameters (Hb, HCT, MCV, MCH, AT, and Quick’s test). We established a reference list of ovine blood count and blood coagulation parameters. Because of some peculiarities of the ovine blood, this list may have implications for the interpretation of experimental data.

We report on the case of a young woman with a history of intravenous drug abuse and the development of an infection of a prosthetic supracoronary-, total arch and partial descending aortic allograft prosthesis following acute aortic dissection type Stanford-A two years previously. For surgical treatment we implanted an allograft prosthesis obtained from a local tissue bank. Particular variations in this setting and in comparison to conventional surgical planning were that high resolution computed tomography imaging was applied to determine and subsequently order the optimal allograft prosthesis in this individual patient and anatomical situation.