Bioreactor Technology for Oral and Craniofacial Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering approaches hold great promise for the remediation of craniofacial defects to various tissues including bone, cartilage, ligaments, meniscus, blood vessels, and nerves. These strategies include in vitro cultivation of cells with biomaterials to achieve construct maturation prior to implantation into the defect site. However, culturing large, viable three-dimensional constructs is an engineering challenge, since the viability of cells within the construct is heavily dependent on adequate oxygen and nutrient delivery. To prevent the formation of necrotic cores and facilitate uniform tissue growth within the graft, bioreactors have been used to provide convective transfer. Additionally, bioreactors may be used to mimic the physiological stresses imparted to native tissues, which stimulate their functional organization. This chapter discusses the rationale for using bioreactors, the principles underlying various bioreactor designs, and provides case studies to demonstrate how the use of custom-designed bioreactors enhances the functional outcome of engineered tissues.