title: Tissue engineering: a 21st century solution to surgical reconstruction.
abstract: Tissue engineering has emerged as a rapidly expanding approach to address the organ shortage problem. It is an "interdisciplinary field that applies the principles and methods of engineering and the life sciences toward the development of biological substitutes that can restore, maintain, or improve tissue function." Much progress has been made in the tissue engineering of structures relevant to cardiothoracic surgery, including heart valves, blood vessels, myocardium, esophagus, and trachea.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Nasseri
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vacanti
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000639:trends*; D001705:Bioprosthesis / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D013234:Stem Cells; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000639:trends*; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000639:trends*