IRE-decellularized vascularized tissue scaffold for organ
This technology uses a specific type of electrical pulse called irreversible electroporation (IRE) to kill cells within a piece of natural tissue while leaving the underlying structure—blood vessels, nerves, and the protein scaffold the cells grew on—completely intact. The result is a decellularized tissue scaffold that retains its native plumbing, meaning blood vessels are preserved so the scaffold can be thick and still support nutrients and oxygen when new cells are seeded into it. This solves a longstanding problem in tissue engineering where lab-grown tissues could only be thin because thicker ones had no way to stay nourished. The scaffold can then be repopulated with a patient's own or donor cells and implanted for tissue repair or replacement.
What you could build
A processed tissue scaffold product—sold to hospitals, surgical centers, or regenerative medicine companies—that enables transplantation of thick, vascularized tissue equivalents for organ repair, wound reconstruction, or augmentation procedures; buyers would be surgical device companies and regenerative medicine firms seeking off-the-shelf scaffold materials.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based research hospitals, biotech startups, and DARPA-adjacent regenerative medicine programs (given Virginia's defense research ecosystem) would be natural partners or licensees.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Rafael V. Davalos
- Granted
- May 14, 2019
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10286108
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.