Figure 6.

Selected comparisons between model outputs for native, decellularized, and engineered tissue. Decellularized lungs, when compared to native, display substantial differences in capillary pressure (A), diameter (B), flow rate (C), and wall shear stress (D) even when perfused at full cardiac output. Four days of re-endothelialization improves microvascular pressure profiles (E) and diameters (F), while smoothing arteriolar-venular gradients in axial flow (G) and wall shear stress (H). By the end of culture, recruitment at 20 mL/min is similar to native tissue (I), and capillary-alveolar hydraulic conductivity is reduced nearly twofold (J). This improvement only marginally increases total organ barrier resistance (K); the achievement of native levels will require hydraulic conductivity to be reduced by two additional orders of magnitude.