Affiliations: Central Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department for Biomaterials, University of Ulm, Albert‐Einstein‐Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany | Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, University of Ulm, Prittwitzstr. 43, 89075 Ulm, Germany | GKSS Forschungszentrum GmbH, Institute of Chemistry, Kantstr. 55, 14513 Teltow, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Eva Binzen, Central Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department for Biomaterials, University of Ulm, Albert‐Einstein‐Allee 47, 89069 Ulm, Germany. Tel.: +49 731 50 25366; Fax: +49 731 50 25348; E‐mail: eva.binzen@zibmt.uni‐ulm.de.
Abstract: Biomaterial research is expected to forward new materials to be used as, e.g., implant materials or as scaffolds for tissue engineering. It is central for such a scaffold material to create the track on which those cells can inhabitate the scaffold needed to rebuild functional tissue substitutes. The tissue engineering concept expects a gradual gain in functionality of the newly created tissues while the scaffold materials are degraded and subsequently eliminated. Not only for the elimination of the degradation products the angiogenesis of new blood vessels is thought to play an important role. In the present study, a new biomaterial, a non‐porous polymeric AB‐network based on oligo (ε‐hydroxycaproat) and oligobutylacrylat, was implanted in animals. Male NMRI mice were implanted subcutaneously for one week. Immediately after the explantation, the probes were examined histologically. Already one week after implantation, there was a strong tissue‐integration of the polymer. Importantly, blood vessels occurred at the polymer surface. There were also clusters of cells around the vessels, which were phenotypically similar to fat cells. The mechanism of the early integration of the polymer is not clear. The relationship between the new periimplant vessels and the integration of the polymer has to be studied.
