The Role of Bioreactors in Ligament and Tendon Tissue Engineering

Bioreactors are pivotal to the emerging field of tissue engineering. The formation of neotissue from pluripotent cell lineages potentially offers a source of tissue for clinical use without the significant donor site morbidity associated with many contemporary surgical reconstructive procedures. Modern bioreactor design is becoming increasingly complex to provide a both an expandable source of readily available pluripotent cells and to facilitate their controlled differentiation into a clinically applicable ligament or tendon like neotissue. This review presents the need for such a method, challenges in the processes to engineer neotissue and the current designs and results of modern bioreactors in the pursuit of engineered tendon and ligament.