Polymers Based Artificial Tissues
摘要
From ancient myths such as Prometheus and Osiris to modern cinema like Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In, the concept of organ regeneration and bodily restoration has long inspired artistic imagination. In medicine, tissue engineering (TE) has emerged since the 1990s as a key interdisciplinary field aimed at repairing or replacing damaged tissues and organs, thereby advancing regenerative medicine. The fundamental goal of TE is to fabricate fully functional tissue constructs. This typically involves seeding living cells onto a scaffold that acts as a temporary substitute for the natural extracellular matrix (ECM), providing the necessary support for cell attachment, viability, and growth [1–3]. Scaffolds in TE can be fabricated from a range of materials, including metals, polymers, ceramics, or their combinations. The choice of scaffold material depends on the specific needs of the target tissue. Essential characteristics of TE scaffold materials include biocompatibility, biodegradability, appropriate mechanical strength, adjustable porosity, surface properties that support cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, as well as sterilizability, nontoxicity, cost-effectiveness, and compatibility with minimally invasive procedures. Polymers, particularly synthetic biodegradable ones, have gained prominence in TE due to their mechanical versatility, tunable degradation profiles, high surface-to-volume ratios, and ability to be processed into a variety of forms. Synthetic polymers such as thermoplastics, elastomers, and foams exhibit a wide range of mechanical properties that can mimic those of native tissues. Because cells respond to their mechanical environment, matching these properties is essential for promoting tissue regeneration [4–6].