Towards bioreactor development with physiological motion control and its applications.
In biomedical applications bioreactors are used, which are able to apply mechanical loadings under cultivation conditions on biological tissues. However, complex mechanobiological evolutions, such as the dependency between mechanical properties and cell activity, depend strongly on the applied loading conditions. This requires correct physiological movements and loadings in bioreactors. The aim of the present study is to develop bioreactors, in which native and artificial biological tissues can be cultivated under physiological conditions in knee joints and spinal motion segments. However, in such complex systems, where motions with different degrees of freedom are applied to whole body parts, it is necessary to investigate elements of joints and spinal parts separately. Consequently, two further bioreactors for investigating tendons and cartilage specimens are proposed additionally. The study is complemented by experimental and numerical examples with emphasis on medical and engineering applications, such as biomechanical properties of cartilage replacement materials, injured tendons, and intervertebral discs.
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Electronic address: stoffel@iam.rwth-aachen.de.
Marcus
M
Stoffel
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Wolfgang
W
Willenberg
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Marzieh
M
Azarnoosh
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Nadine
N
Fuhrmann-Nelles
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Bei
B
Zhou
Institute of General Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Bernd
B
Markert
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D019149:Bioreactors; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013710:Tendons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D016138:Walking
Biomechanical modelling; Bioreactor development; Experimental validation; Finite element method; Remodelling laws