Abstract
Trachea plays a vital role in the human body for transporting oxygen to
the lungs. Tracheal stenosis is one of the destructive conditions that
majorly affects the trachea and may lead to the death. Over the several
years, research has been directed for the development of biomaterials
which can initiate the replacement and regeneration of the trachea and
the field is known as tracheal tissue engineering. This review
summarizes the efforts in the field of tracheal tissue engineering and
its regeneration in terms of the sources of cells, different types of
materials used and several types of fabrication techniques such as
electrospinning, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting and
decellularisation. We have also discussed possible animal models which
could be used for in vivo implantation of the developed substitutes to
check its efficacy and biocompatibility. Bioreactors are mandatory
equipments for 3D culturing of certain cells inside the developed
scaffold and for optimal conditioning of the scaffolds. Therefore,
various bioreactor models have also been discussed in detail for
scaffold development towards tracheal tissue engineering.