The Importance Of Tissue Engineering And Human Clinical Trials

Many of us have all heard the saying that a “lizard can lose its tail,” and bizarrely enough it will grow back. This was always considered impossible for humans, an idea belonging in the realm of science fiction, but now the regeneration of tissue is an extremely realistic possibility. Despite some opinions, this process does not happen naturally, or take place as cinematically as one might imagine. Over the past decade, there have been major advances in regenerative medicine, commonly known as stem cell research. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells within the body that have the capability to specialize into any tissue. They are most commonly found in cord blood, bone marrow, organ donations, placenta, and embryos . Stem cells are seen by some as a new miracle treatment, encouraging many countries to invest in their research.

Tissue engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses principles from engineering, biology and chemistry in an effort towards tissue regeneration. The main draw of tissue engineering is the regeneration of a patient’s own tissues and organs free from low biofunctionality and poor biocompatibility and serious immune rejection. As medical care continues to improve and life expectancy continues to grow, organ shortages become more problematic.(Manufacturing living things) According to organdonor.gov, a patient is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes and an average of 18 people die everyday waiting for an organ donation. The “nirvana” of tissue engineering is to replace the need for organ donation altogether. This could be achieved using scaffolding from

Each product must go through a progression of approval, clinical trials, and post market observation protocols in order to ensure its safety and effectiveness. Stages in the development of medical technologies are scientific background and development of idea for a product, product development, approval, and distribution, diffusion, adoption and utilization of the product. Health care professional, patients, families, and policy makers all struggle to understand how health is affected by behavior, economic and social

Adult stem cells have already proven to be successful in treating diseases and have helped hundreds of thousands of patients, and new clinical uses expand almost weekly. Adult stem cells can be obtained from cord blood, fat, neural tissue, muscle, bone marrow, placental and skin cells. Adult stem cells are increasingly being shown to have a similar and perhaps an identical capacity to become cells of other types. There is a possibility that adult stem cells may function more efficiently and more safely than embryonic cells. Treena Arinzeh, a young professor who last year won a Presidential Award, the nation's highest scientific honor, is bringing the promise of stem cell research one step closer to reality. Adult stem cells also have a unique trait that lends them their magic: Under the right conditions, or given the proper signals, they have the ability to turn into different cell types. Arinzeh is doing exactly that: developing signals, in the form of biomaterials, that will help adult stem cells turn into cells that, if injected into a diseased area of the human body, could regenerate damaged tissue. Her research has also led to two major stem-cell discoveries: One showing that stem cells, when mixed with biomaterials known as scaffolds, can help regenerate bone growth; and another proving that stem cells taken from one person can be successfully implanted into another. A list of conditions for which stem-cell treatment holds promise grows almost daily: It now

In the past, the only way to replace diminished cells, tissues, and organs was from organ transplantation. An organ donor was needed, and the tissues would be surgically removed from the donated body and placed into the recipient. Due to the current research being conducted, it is believed that tissue engineering and organ printing can contribute to the process of improving and saving lives.

After having a stroke, who wouldn’t want a way to recover and have movement in your arms and legs. Sonia Olea had a stroke at the age of 32 and had very little movement on the right side of her body (Stories of Hope: Stroke 2014). Her speaking was limited and was hard to do little things like making a phone call. Sonia didn't want to live like this anymore. A year later she got a phone call that changed her life. The doctors asked her if she wanted to do a stem cell-based clinical trial. Her answer was yes! Regenerative Therapy may be a game changer in the future of the medical world. It is necessary to understand what Regenerative Therapy is, the benefits, the economic impact, the risks, and a point

“Through the isolation and manipulation of cells, scientists are finding ways to identify young, regenerating ones that can be used to replace damaged of dead cells in diseased organs. This therapy is similar to the process of organ transplant, only the treatment consists of the transplantation of cells rather than organs. The cells that have shown by far the most promise of supplying diseased organs with healthy cells are called stem cells.” (Chapter Preface)

As today’s technology is changing, some of the most major effects of it are superior advances in the medical field. One advance in the medical field is tissue engineering. It is being developed for use in regenerative medicine and soon to be in wider use for other treatments. Tissue engineering’s goal for the future is for the medicine to be able to stimulate other cells around the damage area of the body to get them to grow and produce living tissue (Sciencedaily). Another medical advancement is the monitoring systems and how hospitals can better track for problems and signs of an emergency. This can also help the surgeons decide how to stitch up a patient for best recovery time (Sciencedaily). As technology keeps progressing, another medical advancement is the way surgeons are doing operations. Today, for complex surgeries, surgeons now will get help from the use of a robot for accurate procedures; this will help with the size of the incision and keep the recovery time shorter than during standard surgery.

Since this new technology is fairly new in the medical field of regenerative medicine, researchers and doctors want to make anyone with missing organs, or anyone that needs an organ replaced to make their life easier with this printing technology. The goal of this printing system is to make humans stronger by developing tissues for the body, while making sure the body can function the right way. This new technique can possibly help people

This section will discuss the current methods of tissue replacement. We will look at the strengths and weaknesses of these methods. The conventional methods in use today are Biological Replacement such as organ donation, and Artificial Replacement such as Pacemakers.

Every year, the percentages of people around the world suffer from dysfunctional organs and organ failure caused by diseased and damaged tissue, this is increasing due to the rise of the aging population. Traumas and health issues such as strokes, heart attacks and joint problems can reduce the quality of someone’s life. Most current medicines are incapable of adequately repairing issues such as tissue and organ damage. This may be due to the problem that most medicines are made to prevent or to reduce further damage rather than repairing and regenerating the tissue all together. As an outcome, people suffering from these issues are left to live with damaged tissues which can lead to lower quality of life and throwing a lot of money on ongoing

Currently, alternatives, such as mechanical devices and artificial prostheses, don’t repair tissue or organ functions because they are not intended for integrating host tissues, and if these alternatives are used for long-term implantation, the recipient could suffer from an inflammatory response (Chapekar). For illnesses such as end-stage liver disease, the only successful treatment is through transplant, and the odds of receiving a new liver is improbable (Kaihara and Vacanti). Another treatment must be discovered. In 1988, a NSF sponsored meeting defined a new treatment idea called tissue-engineering: the “application of the principles and methods of engineering

Lately, there is an emerging innovation whereby organs are created to form and increase in size by a process of inorganic accretion, from the patient’s cell. This field of medicine is known as the regenerative medicine. In addition to this, there are basically various types of regenerative medical

Andree, C., et al. “Gene Technology and Tissue Engineering.” Minimally Therapy & Allied Technologies 11.3 (2002): 93-99. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 March 2014.

By combining this technology with human cloning technology it may be possible to produce needed tissue for suffering people that will be free of rejection by their immune systems. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, heart failure, and other problems may be made curable by human cloning. (“Cloning to Save Lives”)