Computer simulation models and visualization tools for tissue engineering

组织工程计算机模拟模型和可视化工具

• 批准号: 283278-2006
• 负责人: BenYoussef, Belgacem
• 金额: $ 0.87万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2007-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=331615
• 关键词: Computer; simulation; models; visualization; tools

The objective of this research is the development of computer simulation models and visualization tools to facilitate the work of tissue engineers.  Computational models with predictive abilities will greatly speed up progress in this area. Such models will help researchers predict the dynamic response of cell populations to external stimuli, thus enabling them to assess the effect of various system parameters on the rates of tissue regeneration processes, as well as on the structure and quality of the final bio-artificial constructs.  However, the simulation of tissue growth is a computationally challenging problem requiring large grids to handle the populations of discrete cells and small time steps to accurately describe the cell population dynamics. Tissue regeneration is one of the most challenging bioengineering problems today.  The current approach for treating organ or tissue failure includes transplantation, surgical reconstruction or implanting artificial devices, therapies that are limited in success. An alternative is to replace the failing tissue or organ with a biological substitute grown from the patient's own cells.  Biological substitutes must reproduce the architecture of the tissues they replace. For this reason, they are built on three-dimensional scaffolds made from suitable biomaterials.  Besides serving as the structural component, the scaffolds provide the proper shape of the bio-artificial construct and a three-dimensional matrix for guided cell migration and proliferation.  Scaffolds may also be used to promote wound healing, a serious problem with patients suffering from many debilitating diseases.  Currently, the development of tissue substitutes is almost exclusively based on empirical approaches that require many expensive and time-consuming experiments motivated by biological discoveries.  However, tissues are highly complex systems and a multitude of factors can influence their function, structure and growth rates.  These factors range from properties of biomaterials and scaffolds to the numerous external stimuli that modulate important cellular functions in ways that are still poorly understood.

本研究的目标是开发计算机模拟模型和可视化工具，以方便组织工程师的工作，具有预测能力的计算模型将大大加快这一领域的进展。这种模型将帮助研究人员预测细胞群体对外部刺激的动态响应，从而使他们能够评估各种系统参数对组织再生过程速率以及最终生物人工构建体的结构和质量的影响。组织生长的模拟是一个计算上具有挑战性的问题，需要大的网格来处理离散细胞的群体，准确描述细胞群体动态的步骤。组织再生是当今最具挑战性的生物工程问题之一，目前治疗器官或组织衰竭的方法包括移植、外科重建或植入人工装置，但成功率有限。另一种方法是用病人自身细胞培养的生物替代品来替代衰竭的组织或器官，生物替代品必须能复制它们所替代的组织的结构。因此，它们是建立在由合适的生物材料制成的三维支架上。除了作为结构组件，支架还提供生物人工构建体的适当形状和引导细胞迁移和增殖的三维基质。支架还可用于促进伤口愈合，这是许多衰弱性疾病患者的严重问题。目前，组织替代物的开发几乎完全基于经验方法，其需要许多由生物学发现激发的昂贵且耗时的实验。然而，组织是高度复杂的系统且多种因素可影响其功能，这些因素的范围从生物材料和支架的性质到以如下方式调节重要细胞功能的众多外部刺激，仍然知之甚少。