Biomedical Engineering and Biomechanics Center, School of Aerospace, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China.
Biofabrication. 2011 Mar;3(1):012001. doi: 10.1088/1758-5082/3/1/012001. Epub 2011 Mar 4.
With advanced properties similar to the native extracellular matrix, hydrogels have found widespread applications in tissue engineering. Hydrogel-based cellular constructs have been successfully developed to engineer different tissues such as skin, cartilage and bladder. Whilst significant advances have been made, it is still challenging to fabricate large and complex functional tissues due mainly to the limited diffusion capability of hydrogels. The integration of microfluidic networks and hydrogels can greatly enhance mass transport in hydrogels and spatiotemporally control the chemical microenvironment of cells, mimicking the function of native microvessels. In this review, we present and discuss recent advances in the fabrication of microfluidic hydrogels from the viewpoint of tissue engineering. Further development of new hydrogels and microengineering technologies will have a great impact on tissue engineering.
水凝胶具有类似于天然细胞外基质的先进特性，已在组织工程中得到广泛应用。已经成功开发出水凝胶为基础的细胞构建体来工程化不同的组织，如皮肤、软骨和膀胱。虽然已经取得了重大进展，但由于水凝胶的扩散能力有限，仍然难以制造出大型和复杂的功能性组织。微流控网络和水凝胶的集成可以极大地增强水凝胶中的质量传递，并在时空上控制细胞的化学微环境，模拟天然微血管的功能。在这篇综述中，我们从组织工程的角度介绍和讨论了微流控水凝胶的最新制造进展。新型水凝胶和微工程技术的进一步发展将对组织工程产生重大影响。
