Drawing a distinguished editors and international team of contributors, this book reviews the latest research and advances and how they can be used to develop treatments for disease states. An innovative and up-to-date reference, it begins with a discussion of general issues and then moves on to review characterization. Building on this foundation, later chapters analyze bone regeneration and specific types of tissue engineering and repair such as cardiac, intervertebral disc, skin, kidney and bladder tissue. The book concludes with coverage of themes such as nerve bioengineering and the micromechanics of hydroxyapatite-based biomaterials and tissue scaffolds.