Transport Phenomena in Tissue Engineering

The field of tissue engineering seeks to create clinically effective materials for the repair of damaged tissues and organs and the treatment of medical conditions brought on by trauma, disease or congenital defects. Tissue engineering strategies involve the incorporation of novel biomaterials with biologics and/or pharmaceutics, that upon implantation in the patient will stimulate angiogenesis, tissue integration, and/or tissue remodeling. Critical to the development of effective tissues is the regulation of transport phenomena. This includes delivery of oxygen, nutrients, transforming factors, genes, and cryoprotectants to cells, clearance of metabolic waste products, and intercellular communication via autocrine and paracrine factors. Concurrently, transport of cells represents another challenging component of tissue engineering and important considerations include the migration of cells through scaffolds and their spatial organization into tissue structures. This session seeks a broad range of research abstracts that encompass both experimental and computational aspects of transport phenomena. Tissues include but are not limited to liver, pancreas, retina, muscle, skin, tendon, cartilage, bone, vascular, and nerve.