Scaffolds

The cells are being added to the scaffolds

Another consideration for tissue engineering is how to create a tissue that is able to maintain its structure. In order to give structure to tissues, engineers culture stem cells on scaffolds. When creating scaffolds, engineers have to make sure they are biocompatible. Scaffolds help increase cell retention and enhance cell differentiation (Wu). Scaffolds are not required when engineering tissues.

Types of Tissue Engineering

As stated earlier, engineers can manufacture tissues with or without scaffolds. When engineers create new tissues, they need to decide the form these stem cells will take. Many engineers are making three-dimensional patches to replace dying tissue (Wang). Other engineers are creating sheets of cells then stacking them together (Wu). Both methods are valid, but depending on the environment the stem cells are cultured in, the tissues will behave differently and possess different abilities, such as how many cells are able to differentiate. Engineers have the ability to control the stem cell’s environment by using bioreactors (Wu). This allows engineers to create more efficient tissues.

Patches

One of the main ways engineers create tissues is by creating patches. These patches are used to take the place of damaged cells (Wang). The graft adheres to the tissue and allows the new tissue to become autologous. One of the greatest problems with heart transplants is that the heart can be rejected. Engineers could solve this problem by using stem cells to create patches for hearts and the cells would differentiate to become our own. This lowers the risk of rejection substantially. Tissue engineering also helps create skin grafts which greatly lower this risk of the skin being rejected.

Why Engineering is Important

Overall, these are only a few studies being done on cardiac tissue engineering. In order to discover new treatments we need to study stem cells and more research needs to be done. Engineers are needed to discover new cures for heart disease. They need to find safe ways to graft tissues onto people’s hearts. We are not sure what the tissues will do in a patient’s body and scientist are still trying to find ways to have better cell retention because, at the moment, the tissues do not fully adhere to scar tissue. Before engineers test their patches in humans, they need to make sure they know the long-lasting effects of their patches. The more engineers study tissue formations and how stem cells react in different environments the better patches they will be able to make. Biomedical engineers will provide the new treatments for heart disease and, hopefully, they will be able to lower the amount of deaths that are caused by it.