Egg-in-Cube: 3D shaping of blood vessels of chick embryo using functionalized artificial eggshell

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H01395
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 20010:Mechanics and mechatronics-related
• Research Institution: Kyushu Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kawahara Tomohiro 九州工業大学, 大学院生命体工学研究科, 准教授 (20575162)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 佐藤 有紀 九州大学, 医学研究院, 准教授 (90508186)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 生体シミュレータ / ニワトリ胚 / 機能性人工殻 / 血管誘導 / 力学刺激応答計測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have developed a novel biomedical platform which consists of a cubic artificial eggshell containing a chick embryo. In addition, we have established a methodology to induce blood vessels to the desired position of the eggshell by assembling the channels and the chambers on the surface of the eggshell. In this project, we developed a 3D blood vessel shaping by applying the blood vessel induction technique which is mainly based on a self-pumping mechanism of chick embryo. Our approach (spatially-arranged blood vessels) is a powerful tool for biomedical research, which afford exciting applications in studies involved in mechanical local stimulation of blood vessels with actual cardiovascular system.

Free Research Field

バイオ医療ロボティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では，血管形成を３次元的かつ局所的な空間に誘導する学理に関する１つの方法論を構築できた．今後は，より複雑な形状を有する構造体を用いた誘導や複数血管の並列誘導への応用が考えられる．また，３次元的に部分誘導した血管には局所的な力学刺激が可能であるため，刺激前後の血管壁の細胞や血球の応答・形態変化について実際の循環器を用いた試験が可能である．本研究では，微細な血管内に微粒子を打ち込む技術や血管の様子を長時間にわたって観察可能な技術等についても開発を進めることができた．したがって，今後はこれらの技術を統合することで，薬剤試験や微細手術トレーニングなどへの幅広い展開が期待できる．