Bioreactors in tissue engineering

Abstract

The underlying philosophy guiding the design and development of advanced bioreactors for tissue engineering purposes is to provide environmental conditions that enable metabolically active cells in threedimensional (3D) spatial arrangements to reconstruct functional tissues1. This requires that cells receive adequate supplies of nutrients to maintain their viability, along with 'relevant' biological, physiological and mechanical signals to guide their differentiation along a chosen lineagepathway.