Tissue engineered mitral valve chordae and methods of making and using same

摘要

A tissue equivalent and method of making and using same is provided herein. The tissue equivalent disclosed herein is particularly useful in the repair or replacement of mitral valve chordae, and is prepared by combining collagen with living tissue cells to form a collagen gel and controlling shrinkage of the collagen gel to cause collagen fibrils in the collagen gel to align along a single axis in an unbranched configuration or multiple paths in a branched configuration.