Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To summarize research progress of tissue-engineered tendon stent material and its application for repairing tendon defect.
METHODS: A computer-based online search was conducted with the key words of “tissue engineering, tendon, scaffold” in both Chinese and English from January 1993 to October 2009. Articles about dynamical performance of tissue-engineered tendon, experimental research and clinical application of tissue-engineered tendon were included, but duplicated studies and Meta analysis were excluded. Among 36 articles, 4 major viewpoints were discussed: research progress of tendon tissue engineering; biodynamical analysis of tissue-engineered tendon stent materials; application of biomaterials for tendon tissue engineering; clinical application of tissue engineering for repairing tendon defect.
RESULTS: Natural polymer and synthetic macromolecule were major materials in tendon tissue engineering. The preparation and selection of stent materials depended on producing imitated materials with advanced performance and structure based on artificial synthetic materials, preparing natural derivative stent materials based on natural extracellular matrix, and constructing tissue-engineered tendon based on original bio-structure and bio-performance of biological tissue. Construction of tissue-engineered tendon must simulate three-dimensional physical environment in vivo. Microcomputer-controlled step motor was used to force tendon-matrix compound stent in order to increase proliferation velocity of tendon cells and secretory volume of collagen and develop into stress direction.
CONCLUSION: Physical stimulation is simple, thus technique and instrument for constructing artificial tendon need to be further studied. Additionally, living implants which may completely replace body tissue and organ function still need to be further studied and solved.