Defining Design Targets for Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

摘要: Biological tissues are extremely complex three-dimensional (3D) structures with concomitant complicated mechanical function and mass transport characteristics. Tissue engineering seeks to recapitulate this structure using biomaterial scaffolds delivering therapeutic biologics such as cells, proteins, genes for tissue reconstruction. It is clear that the biomaterial/biologic construct cannot replicate milieu, including multiple cell types interacting numerous cytokines produce extracellular matrices having hierarchical features exhibiting highly nonlinear, biphasic function. The is, at best, a crude approximation normal milieu. To improve clinical potential of engineering/regenerative medicine, we must be able relate goodness success regeneration. In essence, define relevant design criteria therapies. For scaffold, focus chapter, pertinent question becomes: “How closely does scaffold have approximate structure, function, transport, cell-matrix interaction time achieve desired reconstruction?”