Bioreactors for tissue engineering

Abstract

Bioreactors have been widely used in various fields of biological production for many years. Their ability to provide a tightly controlled environment during the process and to allow for monitoring and intervention to the process parameters make them quite favorable to use in biological production lines. Also, bioreactors are widely employed in tissue engineering applications. Ideally, a tissue engineering bioreactor should have the capability to effectively regulate various environmental factors, such as pH, oxygen levels, temperature, nutrient transportation and waste elimination. Additionally, it should facilitate sterile operations, such as sampling and feeding, as well as automated procedures. The general approach for these applications include immobilization of suitable cells within porous, biodegradable and biocompatible scaffolds. These scaffolds serve as frameworks for tissue formation and the cell/scaffold constructs are cultured within a bioreactor, which creates a dynamic in vitro setting conducive to tissue growth. As the technology for these systems and required conditions continue to become more complex, these bioreactor designs will also evolve with time to help treat patients with diseases related to tissue damage. There are specific designs for various kinds of bioreactors (spinner flasks, rotating wall vessel bioreactors, perfusion systems, pulsatile systems, strain systems, hollow fiber systems, wave bioreactors, microfluidic bioreactors, compression and hydrostatic systems) in the market which allows better outcomes for certain applications such as cardiovascular tissue engineering, bladder tissue engineering, neural tissue engineering, cornea tissue engineering, kidney tissue engineering, musculoskeletal tissue engineering, lung tissue engineering and gastrointestinal tissue engineering. All of these different systems and their special applications for tissue engineering studies are explained in this chapter with their specific advantages and disadvantages which make them favorable with the physicochemical environment they provide. When current developments are examined and evaluated, it is seen that bioreactors will have enhanced designs that will help them better mimic the physiological pathways of cells, tissues and their interaction with the surroundings to have better solutions for whole organ, bone, and regenerative tissue engineering applications in the future.