Patient-Derived and Intraoperatively Formed Biomaterial for Tissue Engineering.

In this chapter, we introduce a completely intraoperative procedure for obtaining a patient-derived biomaterial in cell therapy and tissue engineering applications. An automated device for processing human peripheral-blood ensures a reproducible method for retrieving the patient's cellular-rich as well as cellular-poor plasma. By substituting calcium for animal-derived thrombin, we engineer a completely autologous hydrogel that eliminates the risk of disease transmission and lowers FDA regulation hurdles. Through this chapter, we will discuss a bedside protocol developed to prepare a patient-derived hydrogel. This method can be effectively used to develop a completely intraoperative tissue engineering strategy (CITES) that can be easily translated into the clinic for surgical use.