Nanotechnology in Biomaterials: Nanofibers in Tissue Engineering

Devices made of synthetic or natural materials have been used in the medical area and introduced into the human body to improve human health since ancient times. Romans, Chinese, and Aztecs used gold wires in dentistry more than 2,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks sutured wounds with plant !bers and animal-derived materials and used wood for prosthetic limbs. Since then, scientists have continued their research to !nd bioactive agents to cure illnesses and to improve the quality of human life by using arti!cial prostheses. There are various de!nitions of biomaterials expressed in different ways given in the literature, but more or less they have the same meaning. One of the very early de!nitions came from the Clemson University Advisory Board for Biomaterials (1976), which described a biomaterial as “a systemically and pharmacologically inert substance designed for implantation within or incorporation with living systems (Park, 1981).” Another definition of biomaterials is “materials of synthetic as well as of natural origin in contact with tissue, blood, and biological "uids, and intended for use for prosthetic, diagnostic, therapeutic, and storage applications without adversely affecting the living organism and its components” (Bruck, 1980). Biomaterials can be de!ned as materials to be used to CONTENTS 10.1 Biomaterials ...................................................................................................................... 185 10.2 Tissue Engineering .......................................................................................................... 186 10.3 Importance of Nano/Micro!brous Scaffolds............................................................... 189 10.4 Fabrication of Nano/Micro!brous Scaffolds ............................................................... 189 10.5 Nano/Micro!bers in Tissue Engineering Applications ............................................. 191 10.5.1 Bone Tissue Engineering .................................................................................. 191 10.5.2 Nerve Tissue Engineering ................................................................................ 197 10.5.3 Cardiac Muscle Tissue Engineering ............................................................... 204 References ..................................................................................................................................... 208