The Oxford Centre for Tissue Engineering and Bioprocessing is part of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford UK.
Bioreactor technologies are being developed to enable bone,
cartilage, tendon and skin culture to grow, whilst the ultimate aim is
bulky tissue growth from stem cell cultures and the development of
online monitoring techniques that use micro-membrane probes,
microsensors, and multiphoton microscopy for monitoring cell metabolism
and functions, tissue formation, and stem cell differentiation. A
further area of interest is the study of the technology and underlining
science in cryopreservation and vitrification to preserve living cells
and engineered tissues, in order to ensure their off-the-shelf
availability to clinicians. Finally, techniques are also being developed
to enable the use of stem cells for drug and toxicology testing.