Orthopaedic Tissue Engineering Strategies Including CT Imaging of Soft Tissues

Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/11/2015
10:00 am

Sarah Cartmell, Ph.D., Professor of Bioengineering, The University of Manchester

Abstract:
The growing of new bone, cartilage, tendon and ligament tissue in vitro requires a variety of factors that need to be controlled and optimised. These factors (which include the cell type, scaffold type, growth factors/drugs and stimuli such as mechanical and electrical) require the use of a chamber to house the developing tissue and control the applied stimuli. The design and optimal use of several different types of these bioreactors will be discussed, in particular to address the nutrient flow / availability characteristics in direct perfusion bioreactors and also discuss the design of a co-culture bioreactor to grow bone/cartilage tissue plugs. The use of a novel electrical bioreactor will also be discussed in addition to the use of a bose biodynamic instrument to apply mechanical stimuli to a developing tendon construct. The use of computed tomography for imaging and quantifying the developing constructs will also be presented.

Brief Bio:
Professor Cartmell is currently managing and has successfully completed as lead PI several large grants totalling over 4 million GBP. She has recently successfully completed as PI an MRC DPFS funded grant (£1million) in tendon regeneration. Translation of this MRC DPFS has been successful and Professor Cartmell has recently been awarded a second MRC DPFS grant (£1.5million) to take the product developed in the first DPFS scheme to be ready for first in man clinical trial. In addition, she is also currently an active co-investigator on an EPSRC programme grant (1.5million GBP) where she leads the regenerative medicine imaging aspects of a 5 year residency at the Research Complex at Harwell, Diamond Synchrotron, Oxfordshire.  She has many years of experience in tissue engineering and bioreactor design. Her research interests include developing CT methodology for soft tissue and live cell imaging and mechanotransduction / electrical stimulation of cells / tissues. Professor Cartmell has over 60 publications with over 1200 citations (1998-2014). She also has over 120 published peer reviewed international and national conference abstracts.