Training scientists to develop and Image materials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (iTERM)

Project Description

With an increasingly aging population, new treatment solutions for diseased, defective, or damaged tissues need to be developed. Although human donor material would be preferable for these purposes, this is often not available and often associated with medical and/or ethical drawbacks. Therefore bio-engineered tissues need to be developed that can serve these goals. Tissue engineering aims at the development of biological products that repair, regenerate or replace tissues and/or organs and it is foreseen that tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) will become of eminent importance in maintaining an active and healthy population in Europe [1,2]. New smart materials have been developed for both hard and soft tissue engineering [3,4]. More and more these implants are becoming analogous to the tissue they replace, and classical imaging technologies are not equipped to image these implants (see Fig B.2.1.). Consequently, the fate and effect of the used implants cannot be followed adequately with current state-of-the-art imaging technologies, and this represents a major hurdle for TERM. Thus, imaging routines that are adapted to rapidly position or check performance of implants need to be developed. Currently, biopsies may be necessary to demonstrate the efficacy of the implanted material. Clearly, such procedures are undesirable. Implants produced of materials that can be fine-tuned to the imaging technique permitting rapid visualization using special software routines will be of great value because it will allow visualisation on proper surgical placement of an engineered construct as well as on the outcome and result of the procedure without any interference to the patient.