Date of Completion

7-31-2014

Embargo Period

7-30-2014

Keywords

Tissue Engineering; Bone: Collagen; Hydroxyapatite; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; 2-photon microscopy

Major Advisor

Dr. Mei Wei

Associate Advisor

Dr. David Rowe

Associate Advisor

Dr. Yusuf Khan

Field of Study

Materials Science and Engineering

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

Cell-based bone tissue engineering has shown encouraging results in animal models and even a few human patients. This method could supplement or replace autologous (patient-derived) bone as a bone grafting material, with less damage to existing bone. However the factors that lead to the successful healing of bone injuries by cell-based tissue engineering are poorly understood and the optimal biomaterial for this task has not yet been identified. This dissertation will present: (i) the development of a live animal imaging model to visualize the healing process in a tissue engineered implant for bone regeneration and the novel observations found therein, (ii) the development of a sterile collagen-hydroxyapatite scaffold for consistent bone formation in vivo, (iii) the comparison of different methods of cell delivery to collagen-HA scaffolds in the context of bone formation in vivo, and (iv) the development of a novel porogen method to enhance the permeability of collagen-HA scaffolds and the usefulness of permeability as a scaffold design metric indicative of success or failure in vivo. These results have deepened our understanding of cell-based bone tissue engineering, biomaterial fabrication, and biomaterial design, and should improve the efficacy and consistency of cell-based bone tissue engineering.

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