Creation of fibrous tissue at moving interfaces

Overview

Extracellular matrix (ECM) secreted by cells is composed of a meshwork of fibres infiltrated with proteins and/or minerals. This fibre meshwork often matures after its creation by rearranging its structure according to local mechanical clues, or by the infiltration of new molecules.

In this project, the fibre meshwork will be represented by a continuous anisotropic field. You will derive evolution equations to describe fibre creation at moving cell membranes and the subsequent maturation of the meshwork.

Applications of this model include the:

• investigation of twisted fiber arrangements in tissues grown in bioscaffold constructs
• the generation of an anistropic network of interconnected cells in bone
• anisotropic molecular transport in the meshwork.

Research activities

In this project, you will:

• develop new mathematical models of the generation of biological tissue at moving boundaries
• provide mathematical links between tissue anisotropies and tissue growth dynamics in the mathematical models
• use mathematical modelling to analyse experimental data on tissue anisotropies.

Outcomes

Outcomes of this project include new:

• mathematical models of the generation of anisotropic tissue material properties
• mathematical understanding of links between experimentally observable tissue properties and the dynamics of their creation.
• analyses of tissue anisotropies in tissue engineering experimental data.

Skills and experience

This project can be tailored to suit your study level. Some proficiency in differential equations and computer modelling is required.

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.