A Glance at Novel Cartilage Engineering
Globes Online gives good insight into one of the more active areas at the commercial end of tissue engineering research. Scaffold technology is maturing in a number of directions, including this one: Regentis' "replacement cartilage does not include live cells. In fact, it has expunged the tissue itself from the underlying concept behind its alternative tissue. Instead, it has formed a form of interim synthetic bridge which when applied to the injured limb, allows natural tissue to grow and regenerate. The company regulates the rate of the synthetic product's disintegration, in tandem with the growth of natural tissue. ... When body tissue has been damaged, a blood clot is usually formed which also acts a bridge for the building of new tissue and sends a signal that promotes tissue building. The problem occurs when the damage is too extensive and the blood clot can't create the bridge. Once that happens it disintegrates fairly quickly ... the implant can last for up to a year without breaking down. It is very much like the process of coating drugs with synthetic materials to enable a slow release."
Link: http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000293685&fid=1724