Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Mar 2023)

Tissue engineering in reconstructive urology—The current status and critical insights to set future directions-critical review

  • Karolina Ławkowska,
  • Clemens Rosenbaum,
  • Piotr Petrasz,
  • Luis Kluth,
  • Krzysztof Koper,
  • Tomasz Drewa,
  • Marta Pokrywczynska,
  • Jan Adamowicz,
  • the Trauma and Reconstructive Urology Working Party of the European Association of Urology Young Academic Urologists

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.1040987
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Advanced techniques of reconstructive urology are gradually reaching their limits in terms of their ability to restore urinary tract function and patients’ quality of life. A tissue engineering-based approach to urinary tract reconstruction, utilizing cells and biomaterials, offers an opportunity to overcome current limitations. Although tissue engineering studies have been heralding the imminent introduction of this method into clinics for over a decade, tissue engineering is only marginally applied. In this review, we discuss the role of tissue engineering in reconstructive urology and try to answer the question of why such a promising technology has not proven its clinical usability so far.

Keywords