BIO-FUNCTIONALIZATION OF ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBRE SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATION

Abstract

The number of patients suffering from chronic, non-healing skin wounds is steadily increasing, creating a significant social and economic burden on both individuals and healthcare systems. Severe skin damage remains a major clinical problem. A shortage of suitable skin donors, along with postoperative scarring and functional impairment of skin graft sites, further complicates treatment outcomes. Although, considerable efforts have been made worldwide to develop artificial human skin substitutes, progress is still limited by the difficulty in fully replicating the complex biological structure of native skin. Tissue engineering offers a promising strategy for repairing damaged tissues by seeding cells onto biocompatible and biodegradable porous scaffolds. These engineered skin scaffolds are designed not only to provide suitable mechanical and physical support but also to mimic the natural skin surface architecture and microenvironment, thereby enhancing cell attachment, growth, and differentiation.
Currently, skin tissue engineering scaffolds are advancing toward clinical use, offering alternatives to traditional skin transplantation. They help overcome the limitations of donor availability, accelerate wound healing, and support effective regeneration of damaged skin. This makes them a valuable therapeutic option for treating skin injuries. This chapter focuses and fabrication techniques used in scaffold development. It also discusses key design factors for effective skin scaffolds, summarises existing scaffold types and clinically approved materials, and highlights major challenges that still need to be addressed in this field. Key words:

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