Design of a Novel, MRI-Compatible Bioreactor for Longitudinal Monitoring of Mechanically Conditioned Engineered Cardiovascular Constructs

Sharan Ramaswamy¹, Steven Boronyak¹, Margot Goldberg¹, Paul Schornack¹, Michael Sacks¹

A novel MRI-compatible bioreactor is presented. This device permits noninvasive assessment of cell fate and evolving, in-situ tissue morphology. Between MR experiments, engineered tissue constructs can be mechanically conditioned via coupled or decoupled flow, stretch and flexure stress states. The effects of the different modes of mechanical stimuli on tissue formation and how thiseffects the distribution of the seeded cells can be studied using this device. This may ultimately be critical in optimizing currently used protocols in cardiovascular tissue engineering studies.