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Imaging-Guided Bioreactor for Generating Bioengineered Airway Tissue
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Computational fluid dynamics for enhanced tracheal bioreactor design and long-segment graft recellularization
Hankyu Lee1, Alba E Marin-Araujo2,3, Fabio G Aoki3,4
1Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8, Canada.
Scientific Reports
|January 14, 2021
Summary
Optimizing bioreactor design and cell seeding protocols using computational fluid dynamics enhances tracheal graft re-epithelialization. This study improves cell deposition for successful tissue engineering of tracheal scaffolds.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Tissue Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Tracheal scaffold re-epithelialization is crucial for graft success but hindered by poor understanding of bioreactor hydrodynamics and cell seeding.
- Current bioreactor designs and cell seeding protocols often lead to non-uniform cell distribution, impacting graft viability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-design a trachea bioreactor's fluid delivery system for a uniform hydrodynamic environment.
- To optimize cell seeding protocols for homogeneous cell deposition in tissue-engineered tracheal grafts.
Main Methods:
- Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Lagrangian particle-tracking simulations were employed to analyze fluid dynamics.
- Bioreactor rotation rates were systematically varied to assess their impact on cell deposition patterns.
- Validation experiments using human bronchial epithelial cells confirmed model predictions.
Main Results:
- Low bioreactor rotation rates promoted uniform circumferential and longitudinal cell deposition patterns.
- Higher rotation rates improved circumferential uniformity but led to proximal cell deposition bias.
- CFD model accurately predicted cell deposition in low shear stress environments.
Conclusions:
- Optimized bioreactor hydrodynamics and cell seeding protocols enhance tracheal graft re-epithelialization.
- Low wall shear stress conditions facilitated successful long-segment tracheal graft repopulation.
- Findings are applicable to tissue engineering of other tubular scaffolds.
