Bioreactors for Tissue Engineering

David Wendt*, Nicholas Timmins, Jos Malda, Frank Janssen, Anthony Ratcliffe, Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Ivan Martin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This chapter defines the concept of a bioreactor and the key roles of bioreactors in tissue engineering applications. It primarily focuses on their applications to 3D culture systems. It begins by the functions of bioreactors in three key processes of tissue engineering: cell seeding of porous scaffolds, maintaining adequate mass transport in the seeded constructs, and physical conditioning the developing tissues. The main functions of the bioreactor are to control the environmental conditions and the nutrient/product concentrations during the bioprocess. The level of control, reproducibility, and automation that an optimized bioreactor system enables is essential to manufacture products that must meet specific regulations and criteria regarding efficacy, safety, and quality, in addition to being cost-effective. Tissue engineering bioreactors are designed to enable the application of multiple regulatory signals to accommodate replicates via modular design and to provide biosensor or imaging compatibility.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTissue Engineering
PublisherElsevier
Pages483-506
Number of pages24
ISBN (Print)9780123708694
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2008

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bioreactors for Tissue Engineering'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this