Biomaterial Tools for Modeling Endometriosis

In: Biomaterials for Women’s Health Engineering · 2026 · pp. 231–255 · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-10745-9_9 · W7162449743
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This chapter outlines methods for developing more specific in vitro endometriosis models to study disease progression and discover translatable therapeutics.

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This chapter reviews how researchers are using in vitro model systems to study endometriosis mechanisms of etiology and progression, motivated by limitations of in vivo approaches for modeling human anatomy-related pathology and for translating therapeutics from animals. It proposes a development roadmap that emphasizes specifying disease stage, lesion location, and relevant interactions that may drive progression, with goals that include translatable therapeutic strategies and noninvasive metrics of disease presence and progression. The main caveat is that the field is still “emerging,” requiring further work to achieve more robust and specific models. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it focuses on biomaterial tools and strategies for building in vitro endometriosis models.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder that can cause chronic pain and infertility. To better understand mechanisms of disease etiology and progression, researchers are increasingly turning to model systems. In vivo approaches have notable limitations, including limited ability to model human anatomy-related pathologies and poor translation of therapeutics developed in animal models. This chapter describes the current body of work surrounding the recent emergence of in vitro models of endometriosis. This work aims to describe methods by which researchers can consider specifying their work to stages of disease, lesion location, and interactions that could drive disease progression. This chapter defines a roadmap for the development of more robust and specific models of endometriosis with the goal of realizing translatable therapeutic strategies and noninvasive metrics of disease presence and progression. Access this chapter Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout Purchases are for personal use only Similar content being viewed by others

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Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2026 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG About this chapter Cite this chapter Theriault, H.S., Harley, B.A.C. (2026). Biomaterial Tools for Modeling Endometriosis. In: Zambuto, S.G., Oyen, M.L. (eds) Biomaterials for Women’s Health Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-10745-9_9 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-10745-9_9 Published: Publisher Name: Springer, Cham Print ISBN: 978-3-032-10744-2 Online ISBN: 978-3-032-10745-9 eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

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