IRE-prepared vascularized tissue scaffolds for organ repair
This technology uses precisely controlled electrical pulses to kill cells inside living tissue while leaving the blood vessels and nerves intact — a process called irreversible electroporation (IRE). The result is a natural tissue scaffold that retains its original architecture, including the vascular network, which is the hardest part to replicate artificially. New cells can then be seeded into this scaffold, either inside the body or in a lab, to grow functional replacement tissue. Because the blood supply is preserved, the scaffolds can be thick — solving a longstanding limitation of lab-grown tissue that typically can only be grown in thin sheets.
What you could build
A surgical or tissue-engineering platform that uses IRE to prepare patient-matched or donor-tissue scaffolds for organ repair and reconstruction, sold to hospitals, regenerative medicine companies, or tissue banks needing vascularized grafts for applications like liver, muscle, or connective tissue replacement.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based hospital systems, academic medical centers like UVA Health, and defense-adjacent regenerative medicine programs (wound care for combat injuries) would have direct interest.
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
- March 21, 2017
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 9598691
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.