Computer Aided Tissue Engineering

The revolution in biological sciences and bioengineering has created an environment in which the advances in the life sciences are not only amenable to, but require, the active participation of engineering design and manufacturing. This revolution, along with the advancements of modern design and manufacturing, biomaterials, biology and biomedicine have emerged a new field of Computer-Aided Tissue Engineering (CATE). CATE enables the application of advanced computer-aided technologies and biomechanical engineering principles to derive systematic solutions for complex tissue engineering problems. This discussion will focus on recent development on physical modeling and simulation of CATE, including: 1) computer-aided tissue modeling, including representation and modeling of 3D tissue and anatomic system, bio-modeling, 3D reconstruction and application to surgical planning and simulation; 2) computer-aided tissue scaffold informatics and biomimetic design, including classification and characterization of tissue structural and morphological properties, multi-scale modeling, design and fabrication of biological tissue systems and scaffolds at different hierarchical levels, and biomimetic design of load bearing bone and cartilage tissue scaffolds and replacements; and 3) computer-aided bio-manufacturing, including the development of proprietary multi-nozzle biopolymer deposition system for freeform fabrication of tissue scaffolds and cell seeded tissue precursors.