A low cost, off-the-shelf bioreactor as enabling technology for physiological modeling

Nowadays, tissue engineering has become a primary option for clinical treatment involving tissue damage or organ failure. One important enabling technological aspect for tissue engineering to produce successful outcomes is bioreactor where cells could be grown under certain conditions mimicking real physiological conditions and be prepared for in vivo integration before implantation to the patients. Physical stimulation by mechanical and electrical means could improve the development of engineered tissue to mimic the actual tissue. Mechanical stimulation could improve cellular function by improving the integrity and organization of the engineered tissue while electrical stimulation can improve the conductivity and contractility of tissue construction. The electric field would stimulate cellular calcium activity which could stimulate cell integration and gap junction formation. Thus, it is necessary to develop a bioreactor that is capable to provide a well-controlled environment and proper combination of mechanical and electrical stimulation to optimize the process of tissue engineering. Here we build a bioreactor that is capable to stimulate the engineered tissue mechanically and electrically to improve the tissue's contractile performance and functional maturity through an isovolumic contraction. The mechanical stimulation is generated by harmonic inflation and deflation of a balloon while the electrical stimulation is generated from a pair of carbon electrodes. The mechanical and electrical stimulations could function independently to each other. The bioreactor was successfully constructed and passed the functional test and ready for actual application for tissue engineering.