Application

Medical Treatments

As previously mentioned in the introduction page, there are 3 main types of medical treatment which is developed from tissue engineering, skin grafts, cartilage repair, and bone regeneration. 

Firstly, regarding skin grafts, this is the type of surgery which provides part of body skin transplant to replace dammaged skin. Usually people who have burn, injuries or disease would preform skin grafts. In detail, there are 3 types of skin grafts, Split-thickness skin grafts (STSG), full-thickness skin grafts (FTSG) and composite graph. The main differences are the proportion of skin removed. For the STSG, it only remove the top and part of second layer of skin for example thigh, bottom or back, it usually heals within 1-2 weeks. In addition to the skin layer STSG remove, FTSG also removes the entire layer of second skin which requires more time to recover, usually arm, or collarbone area require FTSG. For the last type, composite graft, it requires removing the skin as well as the cartilage and/or soft tissues. Nose, fingertips and ears damage require this type of surgery.

Hyaline cartilage is the main component of joint surfaces can be damaged which cause pain and arthritis. Cartilage restoration procedures aim to stimulate new cartilage growth or implant new cartilage and arthroscopic procedures for cartilage restoration are less painful and have quicker recovery times than open surgeries. Some common procedures include micro fracture, drilling, abrasion arthroplasty, and various transplantation techniques.

Last but not least, bone regeneration is use to remodel fractured bones, where surgeries including distraction osteogenesis, bone transport, and bone grafting. Regarding bone grafting, it can be either autologous, allogeneic or substitute. While autologous grafts are ideal, they require additional surgery and have limitations in quantity and cost.

Research Applications

Tissue-engineered cells can be used to test new medicines before they are given to patients, for example, lab-grown liver and heart tissue shows how a drug affects the body, which makes the process safer and more reliable. 

Scientists can grow simplified versions of organs called "organoids". These organoids mimic how real organs work which helps researchers study diseases such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, and even Alzheimer.

Researchers can grow tissues using a patient’s own cells to test which treatments will work best for them. This makes the medicine more precise and reduces the risk of side effects. IPS heart and cells does have connection which we will talk about that on the next page.

Lastly, tissue engineering also helps reduce the need for animal experiments. Since lab grown human tissues can respond more accurately than animal models, researches become both more ethical and more effective, this would reduce the problem of responsibility.