Design of a perfusion bioreactor for simulating synovial joint cavity

Abstract

Enthesis is the point of attachment between the bone with a tendon or a ligament. It seems more assuring to use a tissue engineered graft that is installed with fibro cartilage which is regenerated by the help of stem cells differentiation than to use a ligament alone graft to replace an injured ligament. Hence a bioreactor system is necessary to mimic this concept and environment of enthesis. A bioreactor system is planned that can be used to conduct perfusion of a cell seeded scaffold for a ligament graft with a medium similar to synovial fluid composition. Various parameters like pressure, temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide, PH etc. in the bioreactor can be controlled and regulated to simulate the in-vivo conditions. The bioreactor could also provide a two dimensional movement that would impart a compressional and tensile force to the scaffold for development of enthesis. Thus it would mimic the in vivo conditions of a joint cavity and simulate the environmental condition which is necessary for the development of enthesis