Tissue engineering applications versatility

T.A. Ahmed, E.V. Dare, M. Hincke, Fibrin a versatile scaffold for tissue engineering applications. Tissue Eng. Part B Rev. 14 (2008) 199-215. 

There are several synthetic composite materials and their applications in tissue engineering are versatile. For instance, in one study a composite of carboxymethyl-chitin (CM-chitin) with hydroxyapatite (HAp) was examined for its ability to repair bone in animals. New bone formation of CM-chitin-HAp composite was superior to that of CM-chitin, HAp, and control (Tokura and Tamura, 2001). The porous CM-chitin-HAp composite was also a functional... 

Referring to microbial cellulose applications, bacterial nanocellulose has proven to be a remarkably versatile biomaterial with use in paper products, electronics, acoustic membranes, reinforcement of composite materials, membrane filters, hydraulic fracturing fluids, edible food packaging films, and due to its unique nanostructure and properties, in numerous medical and tissue-engineered applications (tissue-engineered constructs, wound healing devices, etc). 

By controlling the temperature and time of postpolymerization, the elastomer s mechanical properties and degradation rate can be tuned to fit a wide range of tissue-engineering applications. An increase in postpolymerization temperature and time resulted in a network with inaeased mechanical properties due to the increased cross-linking density. The introduction of CUPEs presents new avenues to meet the versatile requirements for tissue engineering and other biomedical applications. 

PUs are a versatile biomaterial that has been utilized for many tissue engineering applications due to their excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and adaptability. Despite these excellent properties, PUs do not inherently possess... 

It would be impossible to review the fundamental characteristics of every stem ceU/organ system in the body in this chapter. Thus, I wiU focus on only one stem cell system, the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), that has already proven to be a versatile source of reparative cells for Tissue Engineering applications. 

The field of metal-catalyzed copolymerization of oxetanes and C02 will continue to flourish, due not only to the versatility of the reaction but also to the aliphatic polycarbonate products being important components of thermoplastic elastomers that, in turn, have huge potential in medical applications such as sutures, drug-delivery systems, body, and dental implants, and tissue engineering. The exploration of other oxetane monomers (Figure 8.17) such as 3,3-dimethyloxetane and 3-methoxymethyl-3-methyloxetane, will surely provide a multitude of applications... 

Further exploration of these triggering mechanisms in association with the chemistry of the polymers concerned not only would expand the appUcation potentials of such materials, but combination and design versatility of these SMPs with specified trigger mechanisms could provide an array of smart functionaUties with highly sophisticated task duties in implants, drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound dressings, and many other technical applications in everyday consumable and industrial products. 

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