Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

Artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) approaches have recently been getting much of researchers’ attention. The growing interest in these methods results from the fast development of machine learning algorithms in the last few years, especially artificial neural networks. In this review, we pay attention to the need and benefits that ML approaches can bring to tissue engineering (TE). We critically evaluate the possibilities of using the ML approaches in the tissue engineering field. We consider various paths of its utility in the TE, such as scaffold design, predicting the biological response to the scaffold, optimizing drug delivery approaches, supporting image analysis, and modeling scaffold in vivo performance. The current status of ML implementation is presented and supported by many study examples. On the other hand, we analyze the present difficulties and challenges in implementing ML approaches to tissue engineering, including the quality of published data, databases and repositories availability, the need for experiment and results publishing standardization, and ethical issues. Additionally, we assess the available natural language processing tools that could support TE research.

The electrospinning method has been widely used to produce nano/micro fibers for various applications. As a drug delivery system, electrospun fibers display many advantages such as controlled drug delivery kinetics and the ability to deliver drugs locally. A drug delivery system improves delivery efficiency and reduces possible toxic effects. In particular, multiaxial fibers consisting of two or more fluid components have drawn attention for the simultaneous administration of multiple therapeutic agents for sustained delivery and effective treatment. This review discusses recently studied multi-compartment electrospun fibers, including side-by-side (Janus) and axially symmetric fibers – coaxial and triaxial – from the perspective of multi-drug incorporation. It begins with an overview of conventional uniaxial single-fluid electrospinning methods for drug delivery applications, then highlights the advantages of multi-compartment fibers for multi-substance loading/delivery and the advances in triaxial fibers that seem to be promising from the perspective of challenges for dressings and tissue regeneration. Furthermore, drug release mechanisms and kinetics are discussed in the controlled delivery of multiple therapeutics in fibers. In the conclusion, current biomedical applications of multi-drug delivery systems in selected applications and future perspectives are presented.