Tracheal tissue regeneration

Tracheal circumferential defects involving more than half of the tracheal wall still represent an unsolved problem. Several studies have developed different methods to help repair cartilage and improve healing but a suitable tracheal reconstruction or replacement has not been achieved yet. Novel bioengineering technologies seem to be the new answer to this serious problem. This chapter briefly describes the fundamentals of the anatomical and physiological tracheal functions and provides a review of trachea tissue engineering. Then it describes the project and development by means of electrospinning of a biodegradable tubular tracheal scaffold with an in vitro and in vivo preliminary experimental approach.