ABSTRACT
Tissue loss and organ failure are two of the most substantial health problems in the United States. Approximately 50% of the total health care costs in the United States annually, in excess of $400 billion, is spent on patients suffering from these conditions (1). Numerous therapies are available to combat these health problems, including organ or tissue transplantation and the use of synthetic prosthetic devices. However, the transplantation approach is limited by a shortage of suitable donor tissue and synthetic prostheses typically do not replace all functions of a lost tissue or organ. The limitations inherent in these approaches have motivated the development of a new strategy for tissue and organ replacement, termed tissue engineering (2).
