Abstract
We begin this chapter by looking at the role of sensors during tissue and organ fabrication. We provide a working model for sensor technology to support different parts of the tissue fabrication pathway. We next look at biological sensors in nature, with IGF-1 signaling as an example and study the intracellular signaling events which take place in response to IGF-1 signaling. Next, we look at the design requirements for sensors to support the culture and fabrication of 3D artificial tissue. The next three sections are dedicated to three specific sensing mechanisms, which include acoustic sensors, magnetic sensors and optical sensors. For each of the three sensor mechanism, we provide an overview of the theory, along with some applications to illustrate the principles of operation. We then look at flexible sensors and how they have been used for various applications and the potential role of flexible sensors in tissue engineering. We conclude this chapter by providing a case study from the Artificial Heart Laboratory; the case study is focused on the development of novel sensors to record the EKG properties of 3D artificial heart muscle.