The term “tissue engineering” refers to methods and techniques used to improve the regeneration of human cells and tissues, including the manipulation of natural and synthetic materials which provide both the structural integrity and the biochemical information to young cells when they are growing into a specific kind of tissue. This chapter deals with the application of tissue engineering to bone tissue regeneration and is focused to the polymer structures studied and used as temporary templates to promote bone reconstruction. After a brief introduction about the general principle of regenerative medicine, the scaffold design criteria and their applications, atten-tion will be focused to scaffold for bones. A scaffold classification is reported based on the type of constituent polymers and a detailed discussion is provided about these materials highlighting advantages and drawbacks for each of them. Moreover, polymer scaffold prepa-ration and characterization techniques are described and discussed with some examples. Finally clinical aspects and criticisms are also presented to show the state of art of the topic.
Polymer Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Regeneration
DORATI, ROSSELLA;COLONNA, CLAUDIA;GENTA, IDA;CONTI, BICE
2011-01-01
Abstract
The term “tissue engineering” refers to methods and techniques used to improve the regeneration of human cells and tissues, including the manipulation of natural and synthetic materials which provide both the structural integrity and the biochemical information to young cells when they are growing into a specific kind of tissue. This chapter deals with the application of tissue engineering to bone tissue regeneration and is focused to the polymer structures studied and used as temporary templates to promote bone reconstruction. After a brief introduction about the general principle of regenerative medicine, the scaffold design criteria and their applications, atten-tion will be focused to scaffold for bones. A scaffold classification is reported based on the type of constituent polymers and a detailed discussion is provided about these materials highlighting advantages and drawbacks for each of them. Moreover, polymer scaffold prepa-ration and characterization techniques are described and discussed with some examples. Finally clinical aspects and criticisms are also presented to show the state of art of the topic.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
