MATERIALS

MATERIALS

A large number of materials have been used in tissue engineer ing and regenerative medicine, either as delivery vehicles or as sca ff olds; it is beyond the scope of this chapter to describe them extensively (see Further reading ). In simple terms, materials can be either natural or synthetic and further characterised by their mechanical properties, which will often need to take account of porosity . A further layer of complexity relates to specific molecules within and upon the material and the intended targeting or seeding with cells. In this section, we will focus on synthetic polymers, hydrogels and osteoinductive ® ceramics such as Bioglass . These materials have been selected because of their broad relevance in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. MATERIALS

A large number of materials have been used in tissue engineer ing and regenerative medicine, either as delivery vehicles or as sca ff olds; it is beyond the scope of this chapter to describe them extensively (see Further reading ). In simple terms, materials can be either natural or synthetic and further characterised by their mechanical properties, which will often need to take account of porosity . A further layer of complexity relates to specific molecules within and upon the material and the intended targeting or seeding with cells. In this section, we will focus on synthetic polymers, hydrogels and osteoinductive ® ceramics such as Bioglass . These materials have been selected because of their broad relevance in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. MATERIALS

A large number of materials have been used in tissue engineer ing and regenerative medicine, either as delivery vehicles or as sca ff olds; it is beyond the scope of this chapter to describe them extensively (see Further reading ). In simple terms, materials can be either natural or synthetic and further characterised by their mechanical properties, which will often need to take account of porosity . A further layer of complexity relates to specific molecules within and upon the material and the intended targeting or seeding with cells. In this section, we will focus on synthetic polymers, hydrogels and osteoinductive ® ceramics such as Bioglass . These materials have been selected because of their broad relevance in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.