Enabling sensor technologies for the quantitative evaluation of engineered tissue

Research in regenerative medicine has necessitated the need for advanced sensing technologies to monitor and evaluate the quality of engineered tissues. Several sensing schemes have been developed to sense specific analytes that enable researchers to assess tissue morphology, growth, and function. In addition to microscopy and staining techniques, tissue engineers are presented with an array of optical, chemical, and biological sensor technologies, which provide them with an opportunity to monitor variables, such as oxygen concentration, pH value, carbon dioxide, and glucose concentration in a noninvasive or minimally invasive manner. The article presents a short description on the core technologies and research reviews on the use of sensors employed in tissue engineering over the past decade. The article concludes by presenting some of the challenges to the further development of these technologies that are capable of real time measurement of tissue structure, composition, and function both for in-vitro and in-vivo analysis.