Esophageal tissue engineering: A new approach for esophageal replacement

Figure 1 Esophageal tissue engineering. A tissue-engineered esophageal construct may be created by the combination of a scaffold and cells, grown in a bioreactor and transplanted in patients. A three-dimensional scaffold may be created from synthetic material, collagen or a decellularized matrix. Cells for the use of tissue engineering are derived from a number of sources such as the adult, fetus and the embryo. Additionally, non-seeded scaffolds may be transplanted with the aim of being repopulated by host cells. ESC: Embryonic stem cells; IPS: Induced pluripotent stem cells.