Vascularized Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

According to a recent annual report prepared by Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), in Europe, around 60,000 people are currently waiting for transplant. Tissue engineering as a part of a broader field called **Regenerative Medicine**, is an emerging multidisciplinary research area aimed to **reduce the need for organ donation** and overcome the problems associated with transplantation. In order to save lives, there is significant investment in the area of tissue engineering, which could become increasingly important for the healthcare of aging populations worldwide.Biomedical scaffolds used as a support for tissue regeneration require a certain degree of porosity while possessing adequate mechanical integrity based on their application to ensure clinical success. In particular, bone scaffolds need to possess enhanced mechanical and physical properties to be suitable as bone grafts. Deficiencies in blood supply can limit the bone's ability for self-repair of massive defects. On the other hand, macropores in the scaffolds cannot form channel structure essential for spread and transport of nutrition and oxygen. It has been shown that the pores can block the growth of rudimentary vasculature and even the interior new bone tissues. Hence, one of the **biggest challenges in the field of bone tissue engineering is vascularization of scaffolds**. In the **proposed research, we would like to attack this challenge** **by 3D (bio)printing of pre-vascularized scaffolds in an innovative way.**