The engineering behind a healthcare revolution

Professor John Fisher of Leeds University, UK, informs that engineers are playing a key role in the development of tools that improve healthcare significantly. His expertise has been crucial in developing biological scaffolds that can be used as a compatible donor tissue for stem-cell applications. The technique, known as dCell sterilization, strips human tissue of its native functional cells to form a biological scaffold. These scaffolds are implanted into the human body and repopulated with the patient's own cells for treatments, such as cartilage replacement therapy and heart valve repair. He informs that the university has initiated a program to develop a full biomechanical simulation of the knee to test scaffolds. it is also developing virtual simulation systems that model the way nutrients can transport through the tissues.