Figure 8.

Hierarchical architecture of scaffolds for coculturing vascularized cardiac tissue. Consisting of perfusable channels for human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) (red), a vascular–parenchymal interface, and two offset grids with rectangular through‐pores for heart cells (green). Primary and secondary pore structures were generated using micromolding and porogen leaching. A‐E) SEM images show the different porous interfaces (scale bars: A–C), E) 200 µm, D) 500 µm). F) The intensity of Ca²⁺ signal over time in the selected regions of interest (Construct stained with Fluo‐4AM). Time activation maps showing excitation (K). Heart cell orientation on day 5 shown in confocal micrographs G,H) before and I,J) after pixel‐by‐pixel image analysis. Reproduced with permission.^{[ 18 ]} Copyright 2016, Wiley‐VCH GmbH.