Tissue Engineering for Bone and Joint Diseases

Bones comprise of living tissues composed of calcium phosphate and collagen, giving them flexibility and strength. Joints are where two or more bones are joined together in a skeleton. They contain a variety of tissues, including synovial membrane, tendons, cartilage, meniscus, and ligaments, along with a fluid that allows the joint to move. Joints and bones play a critical role in providing the body with the physical capabilities to make a wide variety of movements. Tissue engineering of the bones and joint is concerned with the development of implantable bone substitutes for serious skeletal impairments incapable of healing independently. These problems are commonly encountered in clinical circumstances during craniofacial and orthopedics surgery, for treating bone loss caused due to infection, trauma, and tumor resection. Tissue engineering is currently used primarily to treat traumatic joint cartilage impairments. It utilizes mesenchymal stem cells taken from the bone marrow or the autologous chondrocytes. This book explores all the important aspects of tissue engineering for bone and joint diseases. It is a vital tool for all researching and studying tissue engineering.