The role of tissue engineering.

Abstract

Tissue engineering is expected to have a great impact on wound repair. Tissue-engineering techniques bring a new element of rational design and development into therapeutic medicine. Increasing the understanding of the biology of wound repair will accelerate the improvement of patient care, and the knowledge of basic biologic processes will be applied to the development of new products. Tissue-engineered skin will be reviewed and directions for new products will be illustrated. In the future, tissue engineering is likely to continue to yield products that are rationally designed, robotically manufactured, and increasingly customized to fit patient needs.