Mathematical models for tissue engineering: problems in deformable and reactive porous media Seminar

To artificially engineer tissues numerous biophysical and biochemical processes must be integrated to produce tissues with the desired in vivo properties.

One approach to in vitro tissue engineering is to seed cells on a porous biomaterial scaffold. The cell seeded scaffold (or construct) is then cultured in a tissue engineering bioreactor which aims to mimic the in vivo environment. Perfusion bioreactors utilise fluid flow to enhance the delivery of growth factors and nutrients to, and metabolite removal from, the cells, as well as provide appropriate mechanical stimuli to the cells. Biological tissues comprise a wide variety of interacting components, and multiphase models provide a natural framework to investigate such interactions. We present a suite of mathematical models (capturing different experimental setups) which consider aspects of the fluid flow, solute transport, and cell yield and distribution within the bioreactor system. We interrogate the models to illustrate typical behaviours of each setup in turn, and highlight the dependence of results on key experimentally controllable parameter values. Once validated, such models can be used to inform and direct future experiments.