Tissue Engineering: From Bench to Bed Side Exemples of Applications

Abstract

Tissue engineering is an emerging multidisciplinary field involving surgery medicine, biology, chemistry, mechanics and engineering to improve the health and quality of life by restoring, maintaining or enhancing tissue and organ functions [6;11]. The principle is simple: cells are collected and introduced -with or without modification of their biological properties-into an environment in which physico-chemical and mechanical parameters are kept stable. When they reach maturity, the biotissue or cells can be grafted. The main parameters are: cells, scaffold, biological molecules and mechanical forces. A combination of these parameters can promote cellular differentiation and proliferation. But it should be emphasized that at this time, signalling pathways and the rationale behind the physiological design remain to be elucidated. Among the main medium-term clinical applications are cardiac insufficiency, atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, diabetes, liver diseases, bladder, and skin. In this paper the examples of cartilage and vascular engineering will be examined.