Biography
Biography: Ravi K Birla
Abstract
There has been an increase in the number of research papers describing the fabrication of 3D heart muscle models. Many different biomaterials have been used, several stem cell types have been used and many different bioreactor configurations have been evaluated. The first paper in the field of cardiac tissue engineering was published in 1997 and now 17 years later, we have made significant progress. In this discussion, I will review some of the recent advances in the field of heart muscle tissue engineering and discuss and describe some of the more significant advances. Furthermore, I will also highlight many of the scientific and technological hurdles that need to be overcome in order to move the field of cardiac tissue engineering forward. I will use examples from the Artificial Heart Laboratory (AHL) at the University of Houston.