The Vascularised Chamber as an In Vivo Bioreactor

Vascularisation is key to developing large transplantable tissue constructs capable of providing therapeutic benefits. The vascularised tissue engineering chamber originates from surgical concepts in tissue prefabrication and microsurgery. It serves as an in vivo bioreactor in the form of a closed, protected space surgically created and embedded within the body by fitting a noncollapsible chamber around major blood vessels. This creates a highly angiogenic environment which facilitates the engraftment and survival of transplanted cells and tissue constructs. This article outlines the chamber concept and explores its application in the context of recent advances in biomedical engineering, and how this can play a role in the future of cell therapies and regenerative medicine. The chamber acts as an in vivo bioreactor to facilitate the survival and development of cells and tissue constructs in a well-vascularised protected environment. Chamber tissues can be developed in an ectopic site away from diseased host tissue until maturity, and then the diseased host tissue can be replaced with this newly bioengineered tissue by secondary transplantation into the appropriate anatomical site. Large animal models (rabbits, pigs, sheep) and humans have had the chamber device tested, demonstrating the ability to upscale this technology and its clinical relevance.