Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of
in vitro
tissue-engineered constructs, including utilizing spinner-
flask,hollow-fiber,ordirectperfusionbioreactors,androtating-wall
vessels.
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Another aspect to consider is that the problem of fluid dynamics
and mass transfer lends itself to mathematical modeling and com-
putational tools. A multitude of software such as FEMLAB (Com-
sol, USA), AutoCAD (Autodesk, USA), and FLUENT (ANSYS, USA)
is currently available for designing bioreactors with optimized
and controlled flow profiles and flow rates, as well as for mod-
eling engineered constructs for accurate prediction of its fluid
dynamics.
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24.4 Applications and Outlook
Epithelial tissue engineering represents a special class of tissue
engineering. The rationale behind all engineering efforts is to con-
trol spatial and temporal presentation of polarity cues via the
use of polymeric scaffolds, which allow reestablishment of key
structural features and consequent natural functions of tissue-
engineered constructs. The polarity cues include the ECM, growth
factors, biomechanical stimuli, fluidic effects, etc., which regulate
the fine interplay of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions and cell
metabolite removal. In this chapter, starting from a detailed under-
standingofthestructure, function,andnativeextracellularenviron-
ment of epithelial cells, we discussed the key parameters in scaffold
design for epithelial tissue engineering. We also summarized recent
effortstoengineertheextracellularnichesoflivertissueconstructs.
Thesefindingswillbenefitthedevelopmentofscaffold-aidedepithe-
lial tissue constructs such as kidney, intestine, esophagus, and
lung.
Focusing specifically on the liver, our lab has developed a num-
ber of hepatocyte culture platforms for hepatotoxicity drug test-
ing. These include 3D prespheroid monolayer culture, synthetic
sandwich culture, and perfusion culture and microfludic devices,
etc., where liver-specific phenotype and functions are maintained
in vitro
. We also develop 3D cellulosic macroporous hydrogels,
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