Skeletal Tissue Engineering
Introduction
Ageing is irrevocably related to the degeneration of tissue and organs. Diseases and accidents often result in tissue or organ malfunctioning. Their replacement by (artificial) implants, donor tissue or organs, holds very important restrictions. A new, more advanced biological approach seems to be the only long-term solution. An important contribution to this approach can be given by tissue engineering (TE) in assisting the medical evolution from tissue and organ transplantation to tissue and organ production.
The US National Institute of Health defines TE as an emerging multidisciplinary field involving biology, medicine, and engineering that is likely to revolutionize the ways for improvement of health and quality of life for millions of people worldwide by restoring, maintaining, or enhancing tissue and organ functions.
State of the art
TE research aims to develop methods and applications able to maintain or restore tissue functions. One of the most promising approaches is the use of stem cells in combination with biomaterials and signalling molecules in order to create a 3D environment for tissue formation and remodelling. The regeneration of skeletal tissues by this approach is a fast growing field of research, but transfer towards a clinical application is still challenging.
Clinically relevant TE
To bring bone tissue engineering (TE) from the lab to clinical practice, up scaling, reproducibility, quantification, quality control, surgical training and economic feasibility are all parameters that should be included from the start of this research. To meet the market demand in a later stage, bone TE research needs to be linked to the European regulations for “Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP)” that also include the human bone TE products.