Peritoneal Pre-conditioning Method for In Vivo Vascular Graft Maturation Utilizing a Porous Pouch.

Tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) require strategies to allow graft remodeling but avoid stenosis and loss of graft mechanics. A variety of promising biomaterials and methods to incorporate cells have been tested, but intimal hyperplasia and graft thrombosis are still concerning when grafting in small-diameter arteries. Here, we describe a strategy using the peritoneal cavity as an "in vivo" bioreactor to recruit autologous cells to electrospun conduits, which can improve the in vivo response after aortic grafting. We focus on the methods for a novel hydrogel pouch design to enclose the electrospun conduits that can avoid peritoneal adhesion but still allow infiltration of peritoneal fluid and cells needed to provide benefits when subsequently grafting in the aorta.