U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit

U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit

• Scientific Director: Prof. Miguel Angel Martínez miguelam@unizar.es
• Scientific Coordinator: Fany Peña fany@uniza.es
• Entities: Universidad de Zaragoza. Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica.
• Address: Campus Río Ebro. Edificio I D I. C/ María de Luna, S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
• Phone: 34 976 761 000 ext 5233 / 34 976 761 912
• Web: I3A-UZ

U13.- MicroTester INSTRON 5548

U13.- Activation test of a rat muscle

U13.- Crystalline comppresion test

Description

This platform is coordinated by Dr. E. Peña member of the Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering Group of the Aragón Institute of Engineering Research (I3A) at the University of Zaragoza. The objective of this unit is to provide services for structural and physical characterization of biological tissues and tissue scaffolding, including microstructure, histology and mechanical tests among others. This platform, unique in Spain as regarding its capability, has a clear and direct translational impact, especially in regenerative medicine, implant design and evaluation, as well as in the study of the mechanical behavior of living tissues (especially in the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems). Its relationship with the Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud (Health Sciences Institute of Aragon), and through it with the Tissue and Blood Bank of Aragon and with the School of Veterinary Science at the Universidad de Zaragoza, allows an easy provision of tissues both from animals (mice, rabbit, sheep, pig) and humans, following in their handling the recommendations of the different ethics committees.

It has several types of INSTRON testing machines specializedin biological tissues, for the characterizationof soft tissues and fibers, as well as an X-ray microCT which allows quantitatively characterizing the microstructure of in vitro samples of hard tissues and of biomaterials for scaffolds. It also has the entire system necessary for performing high-quality histologies which would complete the structural characterization of the previously cited types of tissues (staining of preparations, immunohistochemistry in paraffin with EnVision, laser microdissection, etc.). As additional tests, equipment for determining the permeability of biological tissues and scaffolds under culture conditions, monitoring their variation over time is also available. Finally, the platform is also composed of different types of bioreactors, including perfusion or direct compression on seeded scaffolds for stimulating cell cultures for tissue engineering applications.

News U13

10 Nov

Applications of data-driven dynamics to oncology and neuromodulation

On the 17th of November, CIBER-BBN group TME lab – NANBIOSIS U13 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit. organises the Conference “Applications of data-driven dynamics to oncology and neuromodulation” by Dr. Michael Ortiz. Michael Ortiz a Frank and Ora Lee Marble Professor Emeritus of Aronautics and Mechanical Engineering at California Institute of Technology. Prior to his arrival at Caltech in 1995, he was Professor of Engineering at Brown University. Since 2020 he also holds positions as Research Chair in the Institute of Applied Mathematics, University of Bonn and as Adjunct Professor and Timoshenko Distinguished Fellow in the departments of Mechanical Engineering[...]

21 Oct

Microchannel capillarity pumping design by Prof. Guillermo Artana

On the 28th of October, we will be receiving the international visit at the  Unversity of Zaragoza from Dr. Guillermo Artana from Laboratorio de Fluidodinámica-Facultad de Ingeniería-Universidad de Buenos Aires. The title of the talk will be “Microchannel capillarity pumping design“. The invited lecture is programed within the framework of the European project “Heart On chip based on induced pluripotent Stem cell Technology for personalized Medicine (CISTEM)” and counts with European funding: Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme / H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017, grant agreement No.778354 in wich the University of Zaragoza participates through CIBER-BBN group TME lab – NANBIOSIS U13[...]

05 May

Induced pluripotent stem cells in disease modelling and experimental therapies: cardiovascular perspective

On the 20th of May, we will be receiving an international visit at the  Unversity of Zaragoza from Pr. Józef Dulak from Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. The title of the talk will be “Induced pluripotent stem cells in disease modelling and experimental therapies: cardiovascular perspective“. The invited lecture is programed within the framework of the European CISTEM project, in wich the University of Zaragoza participates through CIBER-BBN group TME lab – NANBIOSIS U13 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit. The event will take place at 12:00 in the I3A SEMINAR (2nd floor) of Campus Rio Ebro, of University of Zaragoza Induced pluripotent[...]

22 Mar

The results of POSITION II highlighted by CORDIS: A pan-European alliance for the next generation of smart catheters

In the picture: microencapsulated cardiospheres 10X Captured Brightfield with DM_RGB_Brightfield with DM The European project POSITION-II has been selected for publication in the ‘Results in Brief’ section of the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) website. CORDIS is the European Commission’s primary source of results from the projects funded by the EU’s framework programmes for research and innovation (FP1 to Horizon 2020). The resulting short article has now been published on the CORDIS website in six languages. The European project POSITION II “A pilot line for the next generation of smart catheters and implants” is an alliance of European[...]

07 Feb

Women Scientists in your neighborhood: Estefanía Peña

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11 honor women’s significant achievements in science and place a much-needed focus on girls entering Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. We want to take this day to congratulate all the women scientists, especially to our scientists at NANBIOSIS ICTS, some of whom take an active role in the organization of events to celebrate this day, as Estefanía Peña in the initiative “Women Scientists in your neighborhood” form the University of Zaragoza. Estefanía Peña is the Cientific Coordinator of Unit 13 of Tissue & Scaffold Characterization from t[...]

11 Feb

NANBIOSIS Scientific Women in the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Today February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to raise awareness of the gender gap in science and technology. According to the United Nations, while yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science, science and gender equality are vital to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thus, in recent years, the international community has made a great effort to inspire and promote the participation of women and girls in science. NANBIOSIS wants to acknowledge  the efforts made by scientific women who struggle every day to contribut[...]

17 Aug

The University of Zaragoza, in the elite of the 500 best universities in the world

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as Shanghai Ranking, which was made public on August 15, once again places the University of Zaragoza among the elite of the 500 best universities in the world. This indicator organizes up to 20,000 university centers worldwide. Among the keys that have been able to positively influence the results of the research, according to the Vice Chancellor for Prospect, Sustainability and Infrastructure of the University of Zaragoza, Francisco Serón, are the increase in public campus funding for four years as well as the quality of their Scientists. The University of Zaragoza houses[...]

25 Jun

Manuel Doblaré, researcher of NANBIOSIS U13, new Chairman of IMDEA Materials Foundation

Manuel Doblaré researcher of the Group Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering – AMB and NANBIOSIS U13 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit of CIBER-BBN and I3A presides, from this month, the Board of Trustees of the Imdea Materiales Foundation. The IMDEA Materials Institute, one of the seven Madrid Institutes for Advanced Studies (IMDEA), is a public research centre founded in 2007 by Madrid’s regional government. The goal of the Institute is to do research at the forefront of Material Science and Engineering, attracting talent from all around the globe, and collaborating with companies in an effort to transfer fundamental and applied knowledge into[...]