title: Bioengineering Strategies to Treat Female Infertility.
abstract: Bioengineering strategies have demonstrated enormous potential to treat female infertility as a result of chemotherapy, uterine injuries, fallopian tube occlusion, massive intrauterine adhesions, congenital uterine malformations, and hysterectomy. These strategies can be classified into two broad categories as follows: (i) Transplantation of fresh or cryopreserved organs into the host and (ii) tissue engineering approaches that utilize a combination of cells, growth factors, and biomaterials that leverages the body's inherent ability to regenerate/repair reproductive organs. While whole organ transplant has demonstrated success, the source of the organ and the immunogenic effects of allografts remain challenging. Even though tissue engineering strategies can avoid these issues, their feasibilities of creating whole organ constructs are yet to be demonstrated. In this article we summarize the recent advancements in the applications of bioengineering to treat female infertility.
authors.affiliation: 1 Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland College Park , College Park, Maryland.|2 Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation , Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Che-Ying
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: 1 Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland College Park , College Park, Maryland.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: 3 Obstetrics and Gynecology, MedStar Washington Hospital Center , Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Melissa H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Fries
authors.affiliation: 4 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine , Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: 2 Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation , Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia.|5 School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University , Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Peter C W
authors.initials: PCW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 1 Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland College Park , College Park, Maryland.|2 Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation , Children's National Health System, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014599:Uterus
keywords: bioengineering; biomaterial; cervicovaginal; female infertility; follicle culture; ovary; tissue engineering; uterus