The Complementarity of the Technical Tools of Tissue Engineering and the Concepts of Artificial Organs for the Design of Functional Bioartificial Tissues

Abstract

: Although tissue engineering uses powerful biological tools, it still has a weak conceptual foundation, which is restricted at the cell level. The design criteria at the cell level are not directly related with the tissue functions, and consequently, such functions cannot be implemented in bioartificial tissues with the currently used methods. On the contrary, the field of artificial organs focuses on the function of the artificial organs that are treated in the design as integral entities, instead of the optimization of the artificial organ components. The field of artificial organs has already developed and tested methodologies that are based on system concepts and mathematical‐computational methods that connect the component properties with the desired global organ function. Such methodologies are needed in tissue engineering for the design of bioartificial tissues with tissue functions. Under the framework of biomedical engineering, artificial organs and tissue engineering do not present competitive approaches, but are rather complementary and should therefore design a common future for the benefit of patients.

An Emerging Paradigm in Tissue Engineering: From Chemical Engineering to Developmental Engineering for Bioartificial Tissue Formation through a Series of Unit Operations that Simulate the In Vivo Successive Developmental Stages†

“…There is nothing specific for liver tissue: all the tissues have properties different from the cell properties (emergent properties in complex systems) arising from cell-to-cell interactions (such as, for example, fine-tuning the control of insulin release by the pancreas or, as we will see below, the control of the cartilage and bone development) …”

Modularity in Developmental Biology and Artificial Organs: A Missing Concept in Tissue Engineering

“…Each of the modules—such as a mechanical assistance device pumping unit, a sensory system that detects information in the body, an automatic control system performing the drive control, a transcutaneous energy transmission system, and a secondary implantable battery—was designed to perform a particular and independent function from other modules. On the contrary, no overall bioartificial tissue function is exhibited by bioartificial tissues as in the in vivo ones (18), and therefore the contribution of any of their components to such functions is meaningless. In vivo, the tissue functions arise from the spatial organization of cell‐to‐cell interactions.…”

Artificial Organs 2008: A Year in Review

“…Petros Lenas et al. (103) of the Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain discussed the complementarity of the technical tools of tissue engineering and the use of artificial organ technologies for the design of functional bioartificial tissues. The joining of these two fields will bring future success in biomedical engineering.…”