Engineered trachea for children with long airway defects
Tissue-engineered trachea composites for long-segment airway replacement
This project develops a bioengineered windpipe with a temporary supportive scaffold to help children who have long sections of damaged or missing airway.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11159577 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers are building a living tracheal graft by removing donor cells from scaffold tissue and adding a resorbable material to prevent the graft from collapsing. They will implant these composite grafts into animal models to see whether the airway lining and cartilage regenerate and the graft stays open. The team will measure mechanical strength, new extracellular matrix production, and how well the airway surface epithelium grows back. Findings aim to fix the two main problems seen with past grafts: collapse and slow lining recovery.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children with long-segment tracheal defects from congenital problems, trauma, infection, or malignancy would be the eventual candidates for this approach.
Not a fit: Patients with short, repairable tracheal defects or those needing only routine airway surgery are unlikely to benefit from this research in the near term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could provide a durable, living tracheal replacement that reduces life-threatening airway failure in children with long-segment defects.
How similar studies have performed: Previous clinical uses of tissue-engineered tracheas have had poor outcomes, so this approach builds on promising lab work but remains largely experimental and preclinical.
Where this research is happening
Columbus, United States
- Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp — Columbus, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chiang, Tendy — Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp
- Study coordinator: Chiang, Tendy
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.