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Tissue engineering

Function follows form

At present, when intervertebral discs fail, the only existing treatments are fusion of neighbouring vertebrae or polymer and metal implants. A tissue-engineering approach using an electrospun-fibre laminated scaffold could provide functional equivalence with native tissues in both construction form and strength.

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Figure 1: Spine anatomy.
Figure 2: Intervertebral disc structure.

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Iatridis, J. Function follows form. Nature Mater 8, 923–924 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2577

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