# Non-Invasive, Quantitative, and Label-Free Characterization of Tissue Engineered Skeletal Muscle

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $205,920

## Abstract

As researchers seek to translate exciting technologies for the regeneration of damaged tissue, the lack of non-
invasive and sterile methods for quantitatively evaluating the quality of engineered tissues prior to use in
patients presents a significant challenge. Relatively few engineered tissue products have received FDA
approval, so many translational technologies have no antecedent as a guide for navigating the path from
bench to bedside. The proposed research intends to validate Optical Molecular Imaging (OMI) as a tool for
characterizing the viability of engineered skeletal muscle during and following fabrication, and predict
successful implantation that could also have broad applicability to other tissue engineering products. Current
evaluation of engineered skeletal muscle utilizes invasive histological staining or non-sterile functional testing.
Neither method avoids irrevocable damage of precious samples while simultaneously providing the quantitative
data required for rigorous product quality testing. To address this issue, we propose to use nonlinear OMI to
evaluate the metabolic activity and structural integrity of engineered skeletal muscle tissues during our tissue
fabrication process. Specifically, the fluorescence intensity of endogenous flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)
and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) will be detected and quantified through label-free OMI as a
measure of metabolic activity and cell viability. Additionally, the second harmonic generation signatures
generated by myosin in muscle sarcomeres and collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix will be quantified as
a measure of structural organization correlated with functional outcomes. By combining these two label free
imaging techniques, we will evaluate the metabolic and structural status of engineered skeletal muscle tissues
during fabrication. These characterized engineered tissues will then be implanted into a regenerative
environment to examine the ability of the proposed imaging method to predict successful repair of damage. It is
expected that the gold standards for evaluating skeletal muscle in vitro can be replicated non-invasively and
sterilely by this method. If successful for evaluating skeletal muscle, this technique could be applied to other
engineered tissues, allowing for reliable evaluation of a wide variety of tissue engineering technologies prior to
use as a repair modality.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9894756
- **Project number:** 5R21AR072817-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** LISA M LARKIN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $205,920
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894756

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9894756, Non-Invasive, Quantitative, and Label-Free Characterization of Tissue Engineered Skeletal Muscle (5R21AR072817-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9894756. Licensed CC0.

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