Abstract
The Ulm University Medical Center and the Ulm University of Applied Sciences
are developing a bioreactor to grow facial cartilage using the methods of
tissue engineering. To ensure a sufficient quality of the cartilage prior to
implantation, the cartilage growth has to be monitored continuously. Current
cartilage analysis methods are destructive so that analysed cartilage sample
is no longer suitable for implantation. Alternatively, it seems feasible to
analyse cartilage during the cultivation process and before implantation
using fluorescence spectroscopy after UV light excitation. This approach is
non-invasive and allows an evaluation of the cartilage in terms of
composition and quality. Cultured cartilage implants can reach sizes of
several square centimetres and therefore it is necessary to examine it over
its entire area. For recording fluorescence spectra of different spots of
the cartilage sample, a highly sensitive spectral camera is being developed
in two steps. The first step is a one-dimensional spectral camera that is
able to record fluorescence spectra along a sample line. The second step
enables the detection of spectra over the required two-dimensional sample
area. This approach is based on computed tomography imaging spectrometry
(CTIS) and allows non-invasive distinguishing of the most important
cartilage compounds collagen I and collagen II.
Citation
ID:
36891
Ref Key:
kuehn2015developmentjournal