Trachea transplant

While hydrogels or sponges have been examined for cell transplant for the parenchyma of the hver or lung, more traditional tissue engineering approaches have been utilized for some of the larger stmctures such as bile ducts, trachea, or bronchioles. These traditional tissue engineering approaches utilize scaffold materials made from naturaUy-derived and/or synthetic polymers and have been implanted with some success in vivo in both humans and in animal models. 

In the lung, tissue engineering strategies have been employed to engineer larger airway structures such as the trachea, main stem bronchi, and bronchiole. In 2008, the first transplantation of a tissue-engineered trachea in a human being... 

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