When tissues and organs are replaced with prostheses it is not uncommon for all sorts of complications to arise. The Laboratory for Cell & Tissue Engineering facilitates research on the culturing and engineering of the patient’s own – or autologous – cell tissues. The technologies developed here enable new tissues – such as cartilage, intervertebral discs, blood vessels, heart tissue and organ tissue – to be grown inside the patient’s body.

The Laboratory for Cell & Tissue Engineering is an ultramodern laboratory. The research that takes places here extends across the full spectrum of the field of tissue engineering. Facilities include a fully equipped cell culture room ideal for elaborate experimental tissue engineering. Tissues are tested exhaustively for their mechanical properties and durability. Also the carrier materials, on which the cells are deposited to form tissue, can be made here. A fully blindable microscopy room is equipped with state-of-the-art confocal and fluorescence microscopes for the detailed analysis of cells and the tissues formed.

It is primarily the laboratory’s breadth of activities that makes it unique in the Netherlands. Every step in the research process – from the development of carrier materials to the analysis of the tissue grown – is catered for. All this is facilitated by innovative facilities; the laboratory optimally uses the technological developments offered by TU/e. Since various research groups within the Department of Biomedical Engineering use these facilities, a rich cross-fertilization of ideas and knowledge takes place. This creates a unique breeding ground for innovations.