Nanotechnology for Tissue Engineering

Future advances in tissue engineering are likely to require new tools and materials that provide novel capabilities for the construction of engineered tissue as well as the analysis and monitoring of such products. Nanotechnology research is yielding many new materials with unprecedented control over structure and function, often with highly unique properties. An example of nanotechnology in tissue engineering are nanoparticles, including quantum dots, where control over the size of semiconductor nanocrystals determines the emission spectra from these highly stable fluorescent probes, carbon nanotubes, which offer the potential to make very strong nanocomposites, and polymeric dendrimers, where the highly branched nature of the material offer opportunity to generate multi-functional particles. Nanotechnology also has advanced nanoscale control over material assembly. In this chapter, we will explore some of the ways that these technologies are being used to improve tissue engineering scaffolds, enhance cellular imaging capabilities, and enable monitoring of biological environments and processes.