What Is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine replaces tissue or organs that are damaged by trauma, disease, or congenital disorders. This is different from more traditional therapies that treat the symptoms of tissue damage. There are three main concentrations within the field of regenerative medicine: tissue engineering, cellular therapy, and artificial organs. The use of tissue engineering in regenerative medicine, known as TERM, is an active area of research that involves creating functional tissue through the combination of cells, scaffolds, and growth factors to restore normal biological function.1 Clinicians treat millions of patients with tissue engineered regenerative devices. So far, the most successful tissue regeneration therapies occur in soft tissues such as skin, cartilage, and corneal tissues.
Using Tissue Engineering to Regenerate Damaged Tissue
How does tissue engineering work?
During healthy tissue development, cells build and surround themselves with an extracellular matrix. This matrix, or scaffold, contains structural proteins and acts ...
