U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit

U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit

• Scientific Director: Prof. Miguel Angel Martínez miguelam@unizar.es
• Scientific Coordinator: Fany Peña fany@unizar.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

24 Mar

Online Seminar: Microphysiological Systems for Cell Biology and Cancer Immunology

Online seminar on April 2 at 15:00h CET with Dr. Jose Maria Ayuso on microphysiological systems for cell biology and cancer immunology. Join via Zoom! Zaragoza, March 2025. The CIBER group CB06/01/0069, where our Unit 13 is located, is organizing an online seminar featuring Dr. Jose Maria Ayuso from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The talk, titled “Microphysiological systems for cell biology and cancer immunology”, will take place on April 2, 2025, at 15:00h (CET). Dr. Ayuso’s research focuses on the development of microphysiological systems to study complex biological processes, particularly in the context of cancer immunology. His work aims to[...]

29 May

Cardiovascular disease and Computation: an innovative lecture by Prof. Shirley Jansen

Tomorrow, on the 30th of May, our Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit 13 organises the Conference “Understanding cardiovascular disease by means of Computation Fluid Dynamics” by Prof. Shirley Jansen. The event will take place at 12:30 in the I3A Seminar Room, Block 5, 2nd floor of the R&D Building in Campus Rio Ebro of Universidad de Zaragoza. Prof. Jansen is passionate about the importance of working alongside engineers to understand the mechanics behind many vascular pathologies such as aortic aneurysm, dissection, and peripheral arterial disease, and why close collaboration via a shared language of haemodynamics can shed light on risk[...]

08 Mar

The revolutionary path of research in NANBIOSIS and advice on Woman’s Day 2024

Our interview series delve into the journeys of 7 female researchers, their challenges, and the call for gender equality in science, inspiring the next generation. March 8th 2024, NANBIOSIS (Spain) Kicking off on 11F “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” 2024, and spanning all the way until Woman’s Day 2024, our interview series has aimed to highlight the life, career and opinions of some of the brilliant minds within our network. Today is time to wrap it up, and for this reason we present you a summary of each of them and a chance to take a deeper[...]

22 Feb

Women in NANBIOSIS part 3: Professor Fany Peña, her insights in research, parenthood, and persistence

Prof. Peña gives us her insightful point of view in overcoming challenges, embracing passion, and cultivating collaborative success towards career estabilization. February 2024, Unizar/CIBER-BBN, Zaragoza (Spain) The echo of our footsteps returns from the high ceilings filled with electrical conduits and gas pipes. An alarm sounds in the distance, while the warmth of the Zen Garden located in the center of the R&D Building reminds us once again that peace and progress will never be at odds. We continue forward across the maroon floor, towards one of the access gates that separate each wing of the building. After crossing it,[...]

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[...]