Conventional materials technology has yielded clear improvements in regenerative medicine. Ideally, however, a replacement material should mimic the living tissue mechanically, chemically, biologically and functionally. The use of tissue-engineered products based on novel biodegradable polymeric systems will lead to dramatic improvements in health care.
The most important materials in development for use in tissue engineering, replacement, and regeneration are based on polymers and on composites reinforced with bioactive ceramics. The first book to address the topic in an integrated...