title: Current Concepts in Tissue Engineering: Skin and Wound.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pure regenerative healing with little to no donor morbidity remains an elusive goal for both surgeon and patient. The ability to engineer and promote the development of like tissue holds so much promise, and efforts in this direction are slowly but steadily advancing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Products selected and reviewed reflect historical precedence and importance and focus on current clinically available products in use. Emerging technologies we anticipate will further expand our therapeutic options are introduced. The topic of tissue engineering is incredibly broad in scope, and as such the authors have focused their review on that of constructs specifically designed for skin and wound healing. A review of pertinent and current clinically related literature is included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Products such as biosynthetics, biologics, cellular promoting factors, and commercially available matrices can be routinely found in most modern health care centers. Although to date no complete regenerative or direct identical soft-tissue replacement exists, currently available commercial components have proven beneficial in augmenting and improving some types of wound healing scenarios. Cost, directed specificity, biocompatibility, and bioburden tolerance are just some of the impending challenges to adoption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quality of life and in fact the ability to sustain life is dependent on our most complex and remarkable organ, skin. Although pure regenerative healing and engineered soft-tissue constructs elude us, surgeons and health care providers are slowly gaining comfort and experience with concepts and strategies to improve the healing of wounds.
authors.affiliation: San Diego, Calif.; and Leverkusen, Germany.|From Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of California at San Diego Medical Center; and Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Burn Surgery, Klinikum LeverkusenAm Gesundheitspark.
authors.forename: Mayer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tenenhaus
authors.affiliation: San Diego, Calif.; and Leverkusen, Germany.|From Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of California at San Diego Medical Center; and Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Burn Surgery, Klinikum LeverkusenAm Gesundheitspark.
authors.forename: Hans-Oliver
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Rennekampff
mesh_terms: D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D000072836:Surgical Wound / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*