SEDL / STP / STP1452-EB / STP11635S

Towards In-Situ Monitoring of Cell Growth in Tissue Engineering Scaffolds: High Resolution Optical Techniques

Cicerone, MT
Research Scientists, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Dunkers, JP
Research Scientists, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Washburn, NR
Research Scientists, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Pages: 8    Published: Jan 2004

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Abstract

Inability to obtain cellular-level information about progress of cell growth in tissue-engineering (TE) scaffolds is a pervasive problem. We demonstrate that a confocal microscope with two collinear contrast mechanisms, optical coherence, and fluorescence, can be used to perform non-destructive imaging of a polymer TE scaffold containing osteoblasts. We show that the combination of the techniques shows promise for in situ measurements of cell growth in a bioreactor, even for highly opaque TE scaffolds.