Tissue Engineering Technology that will Save US

By Mike Orser & Ryan McGee

What is tissue engineering?

"an interdisciplinary field that applies the principles of engineering and life sciences toward the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function or a whole organ"

Agenda

1. What are Scaffolds?2. Some different scaffold design techniques A ) Nanofibre Self-AssemblyB ) Gas FoamingC ) CAD/CAM technologiesD ) Electro spinning

3. Multimedia - Organ Printing Demonstrations4. Future of this technology5. Drawbacks6. Conclusion

What are Scaffolds?

Scaffolds are structures that are manufactured for the sole purpose of allowing cells to grow.

Key Elements of Scaffolds and cell development-• Structures that are able to support 3-D cell structures• Allow for cell attachment, migration and growth • Enable diffusion of cell nutrients • Allow the manipulation of cells to form as correctly shaped tissue

Scaffold

Nanofibre Self-Assembly

Or molecular self- assembly is one of the few methods of creating biomaterials.

This method requires hydro gel scaffolds that cells use to assemble and grow them self as 3-D tissue structuresCan be used in the healing process as these nanofibres promote the growth and attachment of nerve fibers Nano fibers break down into nutrients after 2- 3 weeks but their purpose of making cell growth possible allow for complete cell structures at this time.

Below is a nanofibre structure in which cells will be introduced to grow as a complete organ or bone structure.

Gas Foaming

This technique allows for a medium to be created in which cells can be introduced to grow.

Although not as porous as the Nano fibre structure it is cheaper to create and does assist in growing strong cell structures.

CAD/CAM technologies

Cad/cam technologies can be used to create a more complex scaffold structure. Scaffold design and printing with a computer allow cells to grow and match that of the real organ or bones’ internal structure. • More realistic organ properties• Smaller more precise porous structure• Larger cell attachment surface area

This technique of making scaffolds allows for a more precise finely woven structure. High voltage is used to create such a densely woven structure for cells to attach…• Allows for more consistent cell growth • Faster reproduction• More complex cell structures with nerves

ElectroSpinning

Future of this technology In the future, this technology will

continue to advance. More and more complex organs will be able to be created.

Eventually whole body parts and perhaps whole bodies me be possible to create with this technology.

Multimedia – Organ Printing Examples

Multimedia – Printing Blood vessel networks

Drawbacks

With this technology always advancing, ethical issues may created in the future. One example is if a whole body can be created for transplant, can it not be considered a person?

Also cost is a factor. This technology is very new and expensive therefore cost must decrease to allow this technology to be viable in a widespread invirnment.

Conclusion

With the further research and engineering, the manufacturing of body parts is becoming more and more a possibility. From this the possibility of increasing life longevity will become more apparent as we engineer new ways to replace organs that are failing.

SourcesImage Sources:

HIA. (Artist). (2010). Tissue engineering. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tissue_engineering_english.jpg

  HIA. (Photographer). (2010). Gefäßprothese. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gef%C3%A4%C3%9Fprothese.JPG 

Nilsen , K. (Photographer). (2012). Scanning electron microscope picture of nanofibrous electrospun membrane using pvc and peo polymers 2. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scanning_Electron_Microscope_Picture_of_Nanofibrous_Electrospun_Membrane_Using_PVC_and_PEO_Polymers_2.png

HIA. ( Animater) (2010). Tissue Engineering. [Web Photo ]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_engineering

Researched Content Sources:

BBC. (2012) Printing a human kidney. [Web Article]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120621-printing-a-human-kidney

Drury J. L.; Mooney D. J. Biomaterials 2003, 24, 4 ed. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961203003405

Ma, P . (May 2004). "Scaffolds for tissue fabrication". Materials Today: 30–40. Mikos AG, Temenoff JS (2000).

"Formation of highly porous biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Biotechnology 3: 114–9. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/ejb/v3n2/art03.pdf.