Micromechanical environment of mesenchymal stem cells in a bioreactor

The treatment of large bone defects raises important clinical issues. The current solution has several drawbacks and these have prompted an on-going search for alternative methods. Tissue engineering offers an attractive alternative. The principle is to use the patient's own stem cells extracted from bone marrow in order to generate bone tissue in vitro. The proof of concept was established in a large animal model of clinical relevance [1].