Current Trends and Future Perspective of Skin-Based Tissue Engineering

The skin regulates several important physiological processes which have a significant clinical influence on wound healing. Tissue-engineered substitutes may be used to help patients with skin damage to regenerate their epidermis and dermis. Skin replacements are also gaining popularity in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors as a viable alternative to animal models for product testing. Recent biomedical advances, ranging from cellular-level therapies like mesenchymal stem cell or growth factor delivery to large-scale biofabrication techniques like 3D printing, have enabled the use of novel strategies and biomaterials to mimic the biological, architectural, and functional complexity of native skin. This chapter elaborates on some of the most recent methods of skin regeneration and biofabrication that use tissue engineering techniques. Current problems in manufacturing multilayered skin are discussed, as well as opinions on attempts and methods to overcome such constraints. Commercially accessible skin substitute technologies are also investigated, as an effort to mimic native physiology, the function of regulatory authorities in facilitating translation, and current clinical requirements. Tissue engineering may be used to develop better skin replacements for in vitro testing and clinical applications by addressing each of these viewpoints.

Keywords: Biomaterial, Current trend, Future perspective, Skin, Tissue engineering, Wound healing.