Melissa Andrews

 Combines cells, engineering, biology, and medicine  Repairs or replaces part of or whole tissues  It will likely revolutionize the world

 Provides temporary support  Purposes: 1. Allows cells to attach and then transfer 2. Allows for the vital cell nutrients to diffuse 3. Make use of some mechanical and biological influences

 Important both in vitro and ex vitro  Needs to be biodegradable and flexible especially for a heart  Picture  used specifically for heart repair

 Autologous cells are obtained and placed into the bioreactor  Scaffold is then covered with the new cells  The scaffold is then transplanted into the body

 Ratner, a UW professor of bioengineering  Ratner built a new and different scaffold that will be injected the heart.  The scaffold supports and regulates the muscle growth.  In the future, the procedure would be done before scar tissue forms.

 Many more heart scaffold and tissue patches are being developed.  Others can involve different types of cells along with the cardiac muscles and are much more expensive.  He found that it took 4 weeks for the scaffold to degrade.

 Heart cells in a culture dish do not have a blood supply.  Therefore getting blood to those cells immediately is essential.  Size of scaffold implanted – 1/3 of a mm wide by 4 mm long

 Large variations in tissues  Ability of newly generated tissue

Resources 1."Scaffolding for Heart Stem Cells after a Heart Attack." The Daily Heart Beat — Reliable Information and Commentary by a Doctor/Heart Attack Survivor. Web. 7Nov Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing: An Overview: History of Tissue Engineering. Health Management Publications, Inc., Web Davis, Ph.D., Kevin. "Advances in Cardiac Tissue Engineering and Cardiac Tissue Replacement Modalitie." Tissue Engineering. By Scott Seidman Web. 8 Nov "Heart Transplants: Statistics." American Heart Association. Web. 18 Feb "NIH Definition of Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine." Tissue-Engineering. Web. 8 Nov