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Biomaterials in tissue engineering ppt7/24/2023 However, the term “template” is preferred as this involves a different concept and avoids the old-fashioned ideas of scaffold biomaterials. Such vehicles have usually been described as scaffolds. While this does not directly imply that tissue engineering has to involve biomaterials, the delivery of those molecular and mechanical signals cannot take place in a vacuum, and there will usually have to be a vehicle that accurately controls the relevant processes. Tissue engineering is the creation of new tissue for the therapeutic reconstruction of the human body, by the deliberate and controlled stimulation of selected target cells through a systematic combination of molecular and mechanical signals ( Williams, 2006). In order to make it absolutely clear what sustainable tissue engineering means here, a few definitions and concepts need to be addressed. We should, therefore, examine the sustainability of tissue engineering, and, in particular, the role that biomaterials play in this. In reality these meanings are linked since it should not be possible to successfully continue an activity, especially a complex activity such as tissue engineering, without it being correct and defensible. ![]() It is an opportune time to reflect on this topic sustainability refers either to a position that is demonstrably correct and defendable or an activity that can be continued and developed within the foreseeable future. This paper, and this journal issue in general, is concerned with sustainability in the field of tissue engineering. It is argued here that a traditional ‘scaffold’ represents the wrong approach, and that tissue-engineering templates that are designed to replicate the niche, or microenvironment, of these target cells are much more likely to succeed. Materials, such as many synthetic bioabsorbable polymers, which are designed to have no biological activity that could stimulate target cells to express new and appropriate tissue, will not be effective. This essay argues that these considerations are not only wrong in principle but counter-productive in practice. For many years, effective specifications for these biomaterials have not been well-articulated, and the requirements for biodegradability and prior FDA approval for use in medical devices, have dominated material selection processes. One of the major factors here is the choice of biomaterial that is intended, through its use as a “scaffold,” to guide the regeneration process. In other words, sustainable tissue engineering may not be achievable with current approaches. Nevertheless, in spite of significant progress with in vitro and small animal studies, progress toward realizing the clinical and commercial endpoints has been slow and many would argue that ultimate goals, especially in treating those conditions which, as yet, do not have acceptable conventional therapies, may never be reached because of flawed scientific rationale. ![]() The field of tissue engineering has tantalizingly offered the possibility of regenerating new tissue in order to treat a multitude of diseases and conditions within the human body.
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