BIOREACTORS FOR TISSUES EXPOSED TO HIGH FREQUENCY VIBRATION

这项研究解决了对创新生物反应器设计的需求。生物反应器是精确控制生物变化组织上的机械力和环境条件的实验室系统，时间从几个小时到几天不等。一些生物反应器还可以测量孵化过程中活组织的机械响应。耳朵、声音和皮肤在一生中都暴露在振动中。大约有2800万美国人患有听力损失，全国400万教师患嗓音问题的可能性是其他专业人士的32倍，数万人因反复运动暴露而受伤。相比之下，越来越多的证据表明，振动对构建骨骼和肌肉组织有好处，并且是一种积极的神经药物治疗技术，可以减轻疼痛。潜在的假设是，将工程化组织以可量化的生理振动进行调节，当移植到患者体内时，将改善其功能。这种新的生物反应器的目标频率范围相当困难，为10-10000赫兹，幅度从毫米到纳米，与发声、听力和皮肤振动有生理上的相关性。它结合了应力控制电磁和压电式流变仪的高精度技术，可在0.01-2000赫兹的频率范围内对组织进行振动传递和线性粘弹性测量。

This research addresses the need for innovative bioreactor design. Bioreactors are laboratory systems that precisely control mechanical forces and environmental conditions on biologically changing tissues for periods of several hours to many days. Some bioreactors can also measure mechanical response of the living tissues during incubation. The ear, the voice, and the skin are exposed to vibrations throughout life. Approximately 28 million Americans suffer from hearing loss, the nation’s 4 million teachers are 32 times more likely to suffer from voice problems than other professionals, and tens of thousands suffer injuries from repetitive motion exposure. In contrast, mounting evidence suggests beneficial effects of vibration for building bone and muscle tissue and as a positive neuropharmacological therapeutic technique for reducing pain. The underlying hypothesis is that conditioning engineered tissues at quantifiable physiologic vibrations will improve their functionality when transplanted into patients. This new bioreactor targets a rather difficult frequency range of 10 – 10000 Hz at amplitudes from millimeters to nanometers that are physiologically relevant to vocalization, hearing, and skin vibration. It incorporates high precision technology of a stress controlled electromagnetic and piezoelectric rheometer for both vibration delivery and linear viscoelastic measurement of tissues in the frequency range of 0.01 – 2000 Hz.