Within the field of “Regenerative Medicine”, which seeks to replace or repair damaged or diseased cells or tissues or to simulate the body’s own repair mechanisms, there is increasing interest in the use of implantable biomaterials. A biomaterial is any substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose. Biomaterials can be derived either from nature (e.g. collagen) or synthesised from a range of raw materials including polymers, ceramics, metals, proteins or composites. One approach is to de-cellularise a donor organ and using the remaining extracellular matrix as a “scaffold”. This has limitations with regard to the availability of donor organs and generation of an immune response, therefore biomedical engineers are developing a range of  synthetic scaffolds for different therapeutic applications. These can be implanted on their own to promote healing driven by the patient’s own cells, loaded with cells to mimic artificial micro-organs or loaded with growth factors or pharmaceuticals to aid healing.

Endogenous Tissue Repair is a simple therapeutic approach in which a scaffold, without cells, is implanted to promote repair or regeneration by the patient’s own cells. A biomaterial can be implanted, alone or as part of a medical device, to guide cells to heal damaged tissues and to minimise scarring.