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Scanning Electron Microscopy and Histology Imaging and Analysis of Decellularized Porcine Vessel

This senior project analyzes the experimental units of Dr. Kristen Cardinal’s research laboratory with decellularized and rinsed porcine vessels. Decellularized blood vessels provide possible alternatives to creating a blood vessel mimic (BVM) that can be used for the testing of intravascular devices. The vessels samples were prepared using dehydration, sectioning, and Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) staining protocols developed by Dr. Cardinal’s research lab. After sample preparation, SEM imaging was conducted on the samples, and images of the tissue samples’ fiber diameters and other architectural characteristics were analyzed using Image-J. Imaging of the samples prepared through H&E staining was conducted with the use of a wide field microscope under white light. These images were also analyzed with Image-J to evaluate for the presence of cells and measure the vessel wall thickness. Measurements of the vessels with Image-J show an average vessel wall thickness of 1.39 mm and 1.12 mm for the rinsed and decellularized vessels, respectively. Fiber diameters turned out to be 51.1 um and 42.4 um for the rinsed and decellularized vessels, respectively. T-tests were conducted on the data. The obtained p-values showed that there was no statistical difference between rinsed and decellularized vessels supporting the possible use of decellularized blood vessels for BVMs.