The term reparative medicine is often used to denote the replacement, repair, or functional enhancement of tissues and organs. Reparative medicine has traditionally used materials at hand and the technology of the day to restore or improve function of organs and tissues afflicted with birth defects or the ravages of injury, disease, and age. The driving force for reparative medicine has been clinical need; clinicians, par- ticularly surgeons, have recruited practitioners from multiple disciplines to address complex biological problems that are well beyond a single scientific or engineering discipline. Depending upon the particular organ or tissue at stake, a number of re- parative medicine strategies have been employed:.
