T.J. Webster
Interstellar Therapeutics,
United States
Keywords: tissue engineering, humans, clinical, review
Summary:
Tissue engineering has been well studied in vitro and in vivo for decades. Results have shown greater tissue growth, decreased bacteria growth, and inhibited inflammation on select tissue engineering materials. However, there have been fewer studies examining human tissue response to tissue engineering materials. This presentation presents a cohort study of novel tissue engineering materials inserted into humans. In particular, one study includes the implantation of nanotextured tissue engineered spinal implants into over 14,000 patients over the past 5 years. Results demonstrated no cases of infections or other implant failures which is significantly better than statistics on conventional (non-tissue engineering) spinal implants which have up to 20% failure rates. This study will further explain some common successful properties between such tissue engineering materials that mimic the natural properties of bone itself and possess surface energy that can competitively increase the adsorption of proteins known to promote osteoblast (bone forming cells) functions, decrease bacteria functions, and limit inflammatory cell functions. As such, this presentation will cover human clinical studies on tissue engineering materials showing improved human health.