Research and development in the design, synthesis, modification, evaluation, and characterization of polysaccharide-based bioactive polymeric materials for guiding and promoting new tissue in-growth is reviewed. Emphasis is given in this interdisciplinary field of tissue engineering (TE) with particular reference to bone, cartilage, and skin TE. Current strategies in scaffold-guided TE approaches using polymers of natural origin and their composites are elaborated. Innovative modification techniques in creating functional materials for advanced TE applications are presented. Challenges and possible solutions in the technological innovation in factor molecules incorporation and surface functionalization for improving the fabrication of biomaterials scaffolds for cost-effective TE are also presented.

Polymeric biomaterials have significant impact in today's health care technology. Polymer hydrogels were the first experimentally designed biomaterials for human use. In this article the design, synthesis and properties of hydrogels, derived from synthetic and natural polymers and their use as biomaterials in tissue engineering are reviewed. The stimuliresponsive hydrogels with controlled degradability and examples of suitable methods for designing such biomaterials, using multidisciplinary approaches from traditional polymer chemistry, materials engineering to molecular biology, have been discussed. Examples of the fabrication of polymer-based biomaterials, utilized for various cells type manipulations for tissue re-generation are also elaborated. Since a highly porous three-dimensional scaffold is crucially important in cellular process, for tissue engineering, recent advances in effective methods of scaffolds fabrication are described. Additionally, the incorporation of factor molecules for the enhancement of tissue formation and their controlled release are also elucidated in this article. Finally, the future challenges in the efficient fabrication of effective polymeric biomaterials in tissue regeneration and medical devices applications.

No abstract

No abstract