Bioreactor design for tendon/ligament engineering.
Tendon and ligament injury is a worldwide health problem, but the treatment options remain limited. Tendon and ligament engineering might provide an alternative tissue source for the surgical replacement of injured tendon. A bioreactor provides a controllable environment enabling the systematic study of specific biological, biochemical, and biomechanical requirements to design and manufacture engineered tendon/ligament tissue. Furthermore, the tendon/ligament bioreactor system can provide a suitable culture environment, which mimics the dynamics of the in vivo environment for tendon/ligament maturation. For clinical settings, bioreactors also have the advantages of less-contamination risk, high reproducibility of cell propagation by minimizing manual operation, and a consistent end product. In this review, we identify the key components, design preferences, and criteria that are required for the development of an ideal bioreactor for engineering tendons and ligaments.
Centre for Orthopaedic Translational Research, School of Surgery, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia.
Tao
T
Wang
Bruce S
BS
Gardiner
Zhen
Z
Lin
Jonas
J
Rubenson
Thomas B
TB
Kirk
Allan
A
Wang
Jiake
J
Xu
David W
DW
Smith
David G
DG
Lloyd
Ming H
MH
Zheng
D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments / Q000502:physiology*; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D013710:Tendons / Q000502:physiology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*