This activity, also named "Scaffold Scavenging", is an educational activity aimed at instilling the concepts of biomedical engineering, particularly the details of tissue engineering, into students and children alike through a fun, interactive process! This idea was created by the Binghamton BMES student chapter and was also used for a case study in the Biomaterials class at the school by the developers of the idea.
1. Project Title: Developing a Tissue Engineering Scaffold
Authors: Stephen Fischer, Gabriella Shull
Assignment: BME 313, Case Study #2
Objective: Introduce students to the significance of scaffolds in tissue engineering constructs
and the important considerations that must be addressed by design components.
Target Audience Age: Can be tailored to any age group and vary in complexity accordingly.
Duration of Project: ~45 minutes - 1 hour total (~30 minutes for project + discussion time)
Materials: Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, straws, glue, and tape to serve as extracellular matrix
components and cotton balls to mimic cells.
Bill of Materials:
Item Price Quantity Supplier
Popsicle Sticks $3.66 100/pack Walmart/ CVS
Pipe Cleaners $10.99 120/pack Walmart/ CVS
Straws $8.98 100/pack Walmart/ CVS
Glue $2.04 1 item Walmart/ CVS
Tape $3.50 1 roll Walmart/ CVS
Colored Cotton Balls $4.49 200/pack Walmart/ CVS
Total: $33.66
Description: Students will be given a brief background on tissue engineering. The background
can be created and tailored to students of particular audiences based on age and complexity.
Alternatively, this project overview comes with a 6 minute video outlining a general background
for general audiences. After the background of tissue engineering and scaffolds, students will
gather in teams of 2-3 and be provided with materials to create their own tissue engineered
scaffold over 30-45 minutes. The challenge is as follows:
2. Challenge: Create a scaffold that can house the most amount of cells (cotton balls) according
to the following requirement:
a. The scaffold must support cell presence in 3D rotation and will be tested at the
end of the challenge by being rotated in 3 dimensions.
After the designated time, teams will present their designs in front of the class and describe
1. Tissue that can be supported according to this scaffold (i.e. if make of hard popsicle
sticks the scaffold will be suitable for rough tissue such as bone, etc.)
2. Ease of nutrient transport/angiogenesis in model (i.e. if porous holes are in design blood
vessel penetration is more likely).
3. Benefits of the design.
4. Limitations of the design
a. are cells too densely packed?
b. can cells survive 3d rotation test?
c. do the mechanical properties accommodate tissue that is being mimicked?
i. shear stress
ii. tensile compressive stress
5. Number of cells that scaffold supports.
Examples:
3. Competition (Optional): To make this activity competitive, you have two
options:
a. Race to construct a scaffold that accommodates a certain number of cells (e.g.
200) with the first one finishing being the winner
i. Contestants will approach judges to count when they feel their scaffold
can successfully accomplish this task with the stipulations mentioned
earlier (e.g. withstand three-dimensional motion)
b. Design a scaffold for a particular type of organ within a given time limit (e.g. 30
minutes) that holds the most number of cells
i. Specifying a particular organ allows homogenous judging criteria
Questions/Feedback?
If you have any question or concerns we can be reached at gshull1@binghamton.edu or
sfische5@binghamton.edu. We appreciate any feedback or comments! Good Luck!
