ATTENTION/WARNING - NE PAS DÉPOSER ICI/DO NOT SUBMIT HERE

Ceci est la version de TEST de DIAL.mem. Veuillez ne pas soumettre votre mémoire sur ce site mais bien à l'URL suivante: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
This is the TEST version of DIAL.mem. Please use the following URL to submit your master thesis: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
 

Assessing the presence of a vascular network in the fascia lata and the influence of the decellularization process on its microstructure by using 3D contrast-enhanced X-ray microfocus computed tomography

Gillerot, Eléonore
(2023)

Files

Gillerot_60471700_2023.pdf
  • UCLouvain restricted access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 41.04 MB

Details

Supervisors
Kerckhofs, Greet
Faculty
Ecole polytechnique de Louvain
Degree label
Master [120] : ingénieur civil biomédical, à finalité spécialisée
Abstract
The aim of this thesis was to assess the potential of decellularized fascia lata to be considered as a valuable scaffold for tissue engineering or graft for regenerative surgery using different µCT scanning methods. To do so, two main axes were followed. The first one was to characterize the fascia lata and its vascular network. The second axis was to assess the effect of a decellularization protocol on the fascia lata microstructure. In the first part of this thesis, the fascia lata and its vascular network were characterized at macro- and micro-structural level. Results showed that the thickness of the fascia lata does not significantly vary between donors showing the possibility to use standardized protocols on it. Results also showed that there is the presence of an anastomosis of blood vessels at its surface and the presence of small blood vessels in the fascia lata suggesting that the fascia lata is a tissue well vascularized. The second part of this thesis consisted in the validation of results, obtained two years ago by another Master student, showing that a decellularization process did not affect the microstructure of the fascia lata. To do so, an automatic fiber extraction was performed on subvolumes of native and decellularized samples of fascia lata scanned using cryo-CECT. Results showed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of average fiber thickness, average inter-fiber spacing and average fiber length. This suggests that the decellularization protocol did not alter the microstructure of the fascia lata. To conclude, this thesis highlighted the potential of fascia lata to be used as a graft or as a decellularized scaffold by showing that this tissue is well vascularized and that its microstructure is not affected by the decellularization protocol. This work also demonstrated the added value of using CECT and cryo-CECT for the characterization of the fascia lata and its vasculature.