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Functional Tissue Engineering – University of Leeds
Professor John Fisher

The Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, University of Leeds, has recently opened new laboratory facilities for functional tissue engineering. The new laboratories funded by the Science Research Infrastructure Fund, SRIF, and equipped with additional support from the Frank Parkinson Trust, provide dedicated facilities for functional tissue regeneration and tissue characterisation and simulation.

The Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering has an internationally leading reputation for its work on orthopaedic implants and cardiovascular devices. Applied research projects undertaken in our laboratories have delivered new low wear bearing surfaces for artificial joints and bioprosthetic heart valves with improved biomech-anical function and durability. Platform technologies include functional simulation systems for orthopaedic and cardiovascular devices and integrated biomechanical and biological simulation systems for studies of functional bio-compatibility.

(a) Six Station bioreactor for Heart Valves

In the developing research field of functional tissue engineering integration of biology and engineering is allowing us to develop new approaches to tissue replacement, repair and regeneration. New tissue regeneration and cell culture laboratories (300 m2) will house novel functional tissue regeneration systems, COMCELL, TEN-CEL, BICELL, which apply controlled physical and bio-mechanical environments to three-dimensional tissue constructs and tissue equivalent cell culture models. Additionally, functional bioreactors, such as heart valve flow reactors and ligament and tendon bioreactors, are able to apply physiological functional conditions for long term studies to matrix cell interaction and tissue regeneration. The Frank Parkinson Tissue Engineering Laboratory (100 m2) provides facilities for human tissue characterisation, functional simulation of tissue constructs (such as whole joints, spine and heart valves) and long term functional durability test facilities for tissue constructs. The photographs show a six-station heart valve bioreactor for heart valve tissue engineering, a new biaxial simulation system for the spine and a functional joint simulator for characterisation of whole joints and their reconstructed tissues.

The Institute has over fifty Postdoctoral Research Fellows and PhD students. Current research in tissue engineering involves development and application of soft tissue decellularisation processes, functional recellularisation of tissue heart valves and ligaments, functional studies of the influence of three-dimensional biomechanical strain fields on cell function and tissue regeneration, methods to accelerate tissue recellularisation, investigation of peptide based matrices and gels and guided mesenchynal stem cell tissue regeneration. The Institute is supported by an external income of over £1 million per year from Government, Research Councils, Charities and Industries.
For further information contact:

Professor John Fisher
Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering
School of Mechanical Engineering
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 2154
E-mail: j.fisher@leeds.ac.uk
or: c.m.goulborn@leeds.ac.uk

   
(b) Biaxial Spine Simulator                 (c)Functional Joint Simulator