Introduction to Tissue Engineering

Loss or defect in the tissue is a common phenomenon with high medical costs that millions of people suffer annually. Some body tissues effectively undergo a self-healing process and initiate processes during tissue damage that lead to rapid and usually complete repair of damaged tissue. In some cases where the tissue is extensively damaged, for example in grade 3 burns, the body's self-healing methods are not sufficient and searching for methods to control natural processes is essential.

In tissue engineering we seek to engineer living tissues and the desired tissue must be well known to be engineered on the basis of its various properties. Tissue engineering is to take care of nature and imitate the conditions inside the body. The human body is made up of cells and cells make up tissues and they make organs. Understanding the context in which cells grow is called the extracellular matrix as well as the molecules present in the environment are essential for the design of living tissues.

Tissue engineering is nowadays considered as a possible alternative to tissue or organ transplantation. With this technology, organ failure can be treated through biologically engineered alternative implantation. In this way, the cells are removed from a patient and their numbers are increased and placed on a scaffold. Scaffolds can be either natural or synthetic or a combination of both.

There are three basic factors that affect tissue engineering: cells, scaffolds, growth factors

If only the cell is used, the cells must be able to secrete extracellular matrix material. If we use only biomaterials, migration of host tissue cells to the damaged area is essential for tissue regeneration.

This course provides an overview of:

· Introduction to tissue engineering

· Cells in tissue engineering

· Scaffolds in tissue engineering

· Growth Factors in tissue engineering

· Interaction with biomaterial surface

· Body tissue engineering

This course can be useful for students of tissue engineering, polymer and medical engineering and interested in this field.