Informatics challenges in tissue engineering and biomaterials.

D Rekow

doi:10.1177/154407370301700112

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Informatics challenges in tissue engineering and biomaterials.

D Rekow

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Abstract

Both tissue engineering and biomaterials have made tremendous strides recently, yet major questions remain unanswered. Tissue-engineered products have come to the market; others are in development. A fundamental issue that informatics could address for tissue engineering is to describe and to predict the cascade of biochemical and cellular reactions that occur as a function of time and implant material: surface texture, microporosity; pore size, density, and connectivity; and three-dimensional configuration. Behavior of ceramics, a subset of tissue-engineering scaffold materials and a mainstay of dental restorations, has been studied extensively for very thin layers and for thicknesses greater than 2 mm. Until recently, little has been known about dentally relevant thickness of 1-2 mm. Results have been surprising and are continuing to develop. Still, at least one fundamental question remains that could be addressed by informatics techniques: Where, along the spectrum of flat-polished material to 10-year clinical in vivo study, can we test to predict clinical performance of all-ceramic crowns accurately?

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Biocompatible Materials Cell Transplantation Crowns Dental Implants Dental Porcelain Humans Medical Informatics Osseointegration Surface Properties Tissue Engineering Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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D Rekow. 2003. Informatics challenges in tissue engineering and biomaterials.. https://doi.org/10.1177/154407370301700112

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