# Tissue Analysis Core (TAC)

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA OMAHA · 2024 · $473,430

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – TISSUE ANALYSIS CORE (TAC)
Cardiovascular material and device developments require a detailed understanding of human tissue physiology,
pathophysiology, structure, mechanical, and biological characteristics in relation to age, sex, race, and risk
factors, but these data are scarcely available. Procurement and processing of human tissues are challenging
and require well-developed experimental and modeling frameworks with seamless interaction between organ
procurement specialists and biomechanists. Our cardiovascular team in the Department of Biomechanics was
able to circumvent these issues and has assembled a unique database of human artery mechanical, structural,
and biological characteristics that allowed our researchers to perform advanced constitutive modeling analyses
and quantify arterial physiologic and pathophysiologic characteristics in relation to age and disease. The Tissue
Analysis Core (TAC) will build on this experience and support the needs of our Research Project Leaders (RPLs)
in soft tissue analysis while helping them develop new collaborations with the scientific and device manufacturing
communities. To achieve this, TAC will use a two-pronged approach. First, it will provide centralized services for
mechanical, structural, and biological analyses of soft tissues using multi-ratio planar biaxial and inflation-
extension-torsion testing, vapor and gas permeability assessments, structural evaluations using μCT, Duplex
and Intravascular Ultrasounds, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and histological/immunohistochemical analyses
of the main cellular and extracellular compositions. The TAC will also assist CRiB Center members and RPLs
with constitutive modeling of tissue behavior that will inform the design and development of targeted materials
and devices for vascular and endovascular repairs and post-surgical recovery. Second, TAC will ensure its long-
term sustainability and promote collaborations with the scientific community and the biomedical device industry.
Self-sustainability will be achieved through direct and indirect costs from federal research projects and industry
contracts, user fees, and a fee-for-service menu. The TAC will also offer annual workshops and micro-
credentialing opportunities in tissue analysis techniques to increase the awareness of its capabilities and
services, and to facilitate interactions between RPLs and other members of the Center. Interaction with the
scientific community will be strengthened by the development and publication of experimental protocols and the
establishment of standardized procedures for specimen and data sharing. To ensure that our TAC continues to
satisfy the needs of our RPLs and other CRiB Center members, it will collect feedback and suggestions for
improvement from users. Our TAC will provide a unique centralized resource for comprehensive soft tissue
evaluation that is not available anywhere in the United States. This will facilitate exciting new collaboratio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10770978
- **Project number:** 1P20GM152301-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA OMAHA
- **Principal Investigator:** Anastasia S Desyatova
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $473,430
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-02-15 → 2029-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10770978

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10770978, Tissue Analysis Core (TAC) (1P20GM152301-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10770978. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*