Tissue Engineering - Tapa dura

Tissue engineering is a complex and emerging field of study that combines basis biological sciences (molecular, cell, and tissue biology and physiology), engineering fundamentals (fluid mechanics, transport phenomena, materials science, chemical kinetics), clinical aspects (surgery, transplantation, immunology, pathology, radiology) and biotechnology (cell culture, cell separations, gene transfer). All these disciplines converge to study of tissue dynamics that coordinate tissue repair, replacement, and reconstruction. These are procedures and therapies in which cells themselves act as the therapeutic agents.

This book on tissue engineering is the first textbook in this field and it offers the convergence of important fundamental concepts in biology, engineering, medicine, and biotechnology. These diverse concepts are carefully organized and laid out in a clear framework to orient students entering the field. This framework includes four parts:

• Part I: Quantitative Cell and Tissue Biology?Including tissue organization, tissue dynamics, morphogenesis, stem cells, cellular fate processes, and their coordination.
• Part II: Cell and Tissue Characterization-Including high-throughput technologies, cell and tissue properties, cell and tissue culture, and gene transfer
• Part III: Engineering Methods and Design-Including time constant analysis, scale-up procedures, cell separations, biomaterial scaffolds, and how to tailor biomaterials
• Part IV: Clinical Implementation-Including conventional approaches to tissue repair, host integration, and producing tissue-engineered therapies.

This book thus offers the basics of this emerging field to the student and a framework in which instructors can build comprehensive courses, with the flexibility to emphasize and expand on any particular topic.