TISSUE ENGINEERING SCAFFOLDS USING SUPERSTRUCTURES

Here, scaffolds as cell and tissue carriers are approached from an eng ineering point of view, emphasizing material superstructuring in the d esign of supports. Superstructure engineering provides optimal spatial and nutritional conditions for cell maintenance by the arrangement of structural elements (e.g. pores or fibres) so as to vary the order of cell to cell contact. This approach is illustrated in the design of s everal scaffolds: knitted fabrics as three-dimensional superstructures for optimized osteosynthesis implants, a new injectable open porous i mplant system, an angiopolar nondegradable ceramic cell carrier, and a n injectable or microsurgically implantable entangled carrier system. The implications for tissue engineering are discussed.