Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society – EU Meeting -2010Galway, Ireland

Fibrin Microthread Mechanical Stimulator: A K-12 Teacher Outreach Design ProjectDonald Brown,1 Robin Scarrell,1 Marsha Rolle,2 Raymond Page,2 Terri Camesano,2 Kristen Billiar2

Corresponding Author: kbilliar@wpi.edu1Forest Grove Middle School, Worcester Schools. 2Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA.

IntroductionScience, technology, engineering and math(STEM) concepts become more difficult and lessinteresting for many students in middle(secondary) school, thus discouraging manychildren (ages 10-14) from pursuing science andengineering.1 The potential of growing bodyparts in the laboratory and regenerating limbsappears to capture the imagination of children atthis age, thus developing curricula in the area oftissue engineering and regenerative medicine(TE-RM) has the potential to retain students inSTEM subjects. To aid teachers in learningabout bioengineering so that they can transferthis knowledge to their students, we arecollaborating with teachers in hands-onengineering design projects. Here we describethe educational process for a TE-based project.

Materials and MethodsTwo teachers were given the goal of designing asystem for mechanical conditioning thread-shaped cell-seeded biopolymer scaffolds in asterile tissue culture environment. Workingtogether with researchers and students, theycompleted multiple iterations of the engineeringdesign cycle.

ResultsThe final prototype consists of a fibrin threadwhich is cultured within a low-friction guidingtrough in a sterile Petri dish. It is fixed on oneend and attached to a coated rare-earth magneton the other (Figs 1&2). This magnet is coupledto an external magnet attached to a 12VDClinear actuator which is cycled towards/awayfrom the dish to stretch the fiber. Based on thisproject, the teachers report an increase inunderstanding of the concepts underlying thefield of TE-RM and the engineering designprocess, and in their confidence in teaching theseconcepts in their classrooms.

Disclosures:The authors have nothing to disclose.

Fig. 1. Overhead view of entire stimulator setupwhich fits onto a shelf in a standard incubator.

Fig. 2. Close-up view of the microfiber-magnetsystem. The cover which maintains sterility is notshown.

Discussion and ConclusionsThe teachers are using this device in theirclassrooms as an example of a bioreactor forengineering muscle tissue. Further, withincreased confidence in the engineering designprocess and better understanding of the field ofTE-RM, gained from their design project, theyhave implemented design-based projects in theirclassrooms using bioengineering examples (asopposed to building bridges, etc.).

References1. Adelman, C., (1998) U.S. Department ofEducation & the Natl Inst for Science Education.

AcknowledgmentsWe acknowledge the National ScienceFoundation for funding this Research Experiencefor Teachers program (EEC 0743037). Specialthanks to students A. Christakis, J. Makridakis,J. Grasman, A. Reidinger, and J. Hu.

Powersources

Controller

Magnets Actuator

Petridish

Threador fiber

Petri dishFibrin (or other) thread

MagnetsActuator

Low friction“trough”