3D perfusion bioreactor for optimising osteostimulatory scaffolds for conditioning of autologous cells for enhanced bone grafting

Promote novel musculoskeletal tissue engineering approaches by developing new in vitro screening and cell conditioning technologies.

Achieving reliable bone healing and fracture repair in older patients or patients with compromised bone biology continues to challenge clinicians. The negative impact on patient recovery rates and ongoing quality of life, resulting from poor fracture repair, also presents health and social care systems with a significant financial burden. In response to this challenge a number of different synthetic bone graft substitute (BGS) materials have been developed globally. These synthetics aim to replicate the success achieved by auto-grafting (which uses bone taken from the patient), but without the clinical complications associated with retrieving the auto-graft from the donor site. While some synthetic BGS materials have proven to be clinically successful, there is increasing interest in pre-seeded orthobiologic bone grafting therapies to further boost the rate and quality of bone regeneration.

Following the QMUL groups involvement in the development of Actifuse and Inductigraft synthetic BGS materials this studentship will build on investigations into the regulation of bone regeneration capacity by synthetic BGS, previously centred around using a perfusion based bioreactor system to investigate human mesenchymal stem cell sensitivity to the structural characteristics of synthetic BGS.

The aims of this studentship are to develop further the in vitro 3D perfusion bioreactor platform for use as an alternative to first level in vivo screening, and to optimise graft structures specifically to deliver and enhance the osteogenic potential of autologous cells.