Figure 5
A schematic of the bioreactor model used to perfuse native kidneys and decellularized scaffolds with whole blood. This image illustrates the bioreactor assembly with the arterial (AL) that receives blood from the arterial outflow and venous (VL) lines that returns blood dispensed from the kidneys for recirculation via the venous return segment (a). A decellularized kidney is suspended in the bioreactor, before blood perfusion, by attaching the cannulated renal artery (RA) to the arterial line, while the renal vein (RV), venous line, and ureter (UR) were all left open to support outflow from the kidney sample and venous return to the pump (b). A native/decellularized kidney is attached to the arterial line within the assembly and suspended in a reservoir of approximately 400–500 ml of blood to facilitate perfusion at various rates.
