Introduction to Tissue Engineering

Week One: Introduction. definitions, basic principles, structure-function relationships

Week Two: Biomaterials. metals, ceramics, polymers (synthetic and natural). Biodegradable materials, native matrix

Week Three: Tissue culture basics: primary cells vs. cell lines, sterile techniques, plastics, enzymes, reactors and cryopreservation

Week Four: Oxygen transport. diffusion, Michalies-Menten kinetics, oxygen uptake rates, limits of diffusion

Week Five: Principals of self assembly. cell migration, 3D organization and angiogenesis

Week Six: Skin tissue engineering. introduction, scar vs. regeneration, split skin graft, apligraf

Week Seven: Cardiovascular tissue engineering. introduction, blood vessels structure, vascular grafts

Week Eight: Liver tissue engineering. bioartificial liver (BAL) assist device, shear forces , oxygen transport, plasma effects  

Week Nine: Liver tissue engineering. self-assembled organoids, decelluarized whole livers

Week Ten: Stem cells. basic principles, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells