title: Tissue-engineered trachea: History, problems and the future.
abstract: This review tries to summarize the efforts over the past 20 years to construct a tissue-engineered trachea. After illustrating the main technical bottlenecks faced nowadays, we discuss what might be the solutions to these bottlenecks. You may find out why the focus in this research field shifts dramatically from the construction of a tubular cartilage tissue to reepithelialization and revascularization of the prosthesis. In the end we propose a novel concept of 'in vivo bioreactor', defined as the design of a perfusion system inside the scaffold, and explain its potential application in the construction of a tissue-engineered trachea.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. tqiang@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hoerstrup
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weder
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D019149:Bioreactors; D006801:Humans; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D014132:Trachea / Q000098:blood supply / Q000601:surgery