Tendon and ligament tissue engineering: Restoring tendon/ligament and its interfaces

Abstract

Tendon and ligament injuries are very common. Over 800,000 people each year require medical attention for injuries to tendons, ligaments, or the joint capsule [14]. Unfortunately, tendon and ligament are relatively acellular and poorly vascularized tissues and have a poor capacity for healing [59, 65, 68, 119]. Suturing and grafts have had limited success in tendon and ligament repair, often resulting in poor healing, donor site morbidity, and insufficient mechanical properties [59, 65, 68, 124]. For this reason, there is currently a great deal of research on tendon and ligament tissue engineering. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.