The past decade has seen an increasing demand for more complex, reproducible and physiologically relevant tissue cultures that can mimic the structural and biological features of living tissues. Monitoring the viability, development and responses of such tissues in real‐time are challenging due to the complexities of cell culture physical characteristics and the environments in which these cultures need to be maintained in. Significant developments in optics, such as optical manipulation, improved detection and data analysis, have made optical imaging a preferred choice for many three‐dimensional (3D) cell culture monitoring applications. The aim of this review is to discuss the challenges associated with imaging and monitoring 3D tissues and cell culture, and highlight topical label‐free imaging tools that enable bioengineers and biophysicists to non‐invasively characterise engineered living tissues.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.