Original Articles
Alma Tamunonengiofori Banigo,
Abstract
Degeneration or loss of organs, tissue component or cell unit remains the consequences of home or sport injuries, trauma, wear and tear of various diseases in human beings. The transplantation of tissue for the treatment of these diseases in different forms like autograft, allograft or xenograft posed potential benefits as well as risks. Due to the presence of many risk factors over health benefits of using allograft and others techniques, an alternative field termed as Tissue Engineering (TE) and Regenerative Medicine (RM) has been employed to enhance healthcare delivery in the core areas of regenerating, replacing and repairing of worn out or diseased tissues and organs. The most relevant areas of Human Tissue Engineering include cells, biomolecules, manufacturing factors, safety and performance issues, informatics, modelling, clinical data and most particular, biomaterials. This study concentrates on the various biomaterials and their applications in tissue engineering. Biomaterials (natural, synthetic or composite) have been used for various tissue engineering applications such as bone (to produce bone graft), cardiac (to develop bioartificial heart, cardiac patches and artificial heart valves), peripheral nerves, cartilage and skin repair, replacement and maintenance in order to enhance healthcare delivery based on physical, chemical or mechanical properties.