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Implantable Sensors for Regenerative Medicine
Brett S Klosterhoff1, Melissa Tsang2, Didi She3
1George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332;Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332.
Journal of Biomechanical Engineering
|December 18, 2016
Summary
Implantable sensors can now track healing in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TE/RM) by measuring environmental cues in vivo. This overcomes challenges in evaluating TE/RM therapy success in preclinical models.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
- Materials Science
Background:
- Translating tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TE/RM) therapies from in vitro to in vivo models faces challenges due to inconsistent efficacy.
- Assessing the mechanistic reasons for impaired TE/RM treatment efficacy in vivo is difficult due to limitations in longitudinally measuring environmental cues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the need for real-time, longitudinal measurements of environmental parameters within the regenerative niche in situ.
- To discuss the potential of implantable sensors, particularly those based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and magnetoelastic platforms, to address these measurement challenges.
Main Methods:
- Reviewing advancements in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and passive magnetoelastic sensor technologies.
- Exploring the application of small, flexible, low-power implantable sensors for quantitative in vivo measurements.
Main Results:
- Implantable sensors offer a promising approach to quantitatively measure critical environmental cues (e.g., strain, pH, oxygen tension, biomarkers) in real-time.
- These sensors can be integrated into preclinical in vivo models to monitor healing processes and identify factors affecting TE/RM therapy efficacy.
Conclusions:
- Advancements in sensor technology enable the development of implantable devices for longitudinal monitoring in TE/RM research.
- Such sensors can significantly enhance the understanding of healing mechanisms and improve the translation of TE/RM therapies.
