Microfabrication and microfluidics for tissue engineering: state of the art and future opportunities

Abstract

An introductory overview of the use of microfluidic devices for tissue engineering is presented. After a brief description of the background of tissue engineering, different application areas of microfluidic devices are examined. Among these are methods for patterning cells, topographical control over cells and tissues, and bioreactors. Examples where microfluidic devices have been employed are presented such as basal lamina, vascular tissue, liver, bone, cartilage and neurons. It is concluded that until today, microfluidic devices have not been used extensively in tissue engineering. Major contributions are expected in two areas. The first is growth of complex tissue, where microfluidic structures ensure a steady blood supply, thereby circumventing the well-known problem of providing larger tissue structures with a continuous flow of oxygen and nutrition, and withdrawal of waste products. The second, and probably more important function of microfluidics, combined with micro/nanotechnology, lies in the development of in vitro physiological systems for studying fundamental biological phenomena.

Continuous perfusion microfluidic cell culture array for high-throughput cell-based assays

“…Cell culture on the microscale may also offer advantages for studies of tissue behavior (Andersson and van den Berg, 2004). An ex vivo tissue array could have tremendous impact on biotechnology, such as the development of functional tissue engineering (Martin et al, 2004).…”

A microfluidic culture platform for CNS axonal injury, regeneration and transport

“…Several biological studies use microfluidic systems fabricated with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) as a platform for miniature immunoassays, separation of proteins and DNA, sorting and manipulation of cells, and microscale bioreactors [15][16][17][18][19] . Development of microfabricated devices for neurons has generally been engineering-oriented, to develop retinal protheses 20 and to use neurons for biosensor applications 17,21 .…”

Nanoliter scale microbioreactor array for quantitative cell biology

“…The realization of a microfluidics based cell microarray has many advantages for high throughput biology including greatly reduced sample volumes, inexpensive process automation, precise microenvironment control, and the ability to retain physiologic tissue activity in vitro (Andersson and van den Berg, 2004;Powers et al, 2002b). These functionalities have the potential to provide the field of cellular systems biology with a robust experimental platform for detailed signal analysis from a large number of experimental conditions.…”