Fig. 3.
A comparative presentation of the relationship between regenerative medicine (RM) and tissue engineering (TE). Although RM is a broader and more general field than TE, one does not fully encompass the other. Both aim to restore the function of lost or destroyed tissue and can be seen as one research unit: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). In the field of TE, a distinction is made between in vitro and in vivo concepts. While functional organs or tissues are constructed and implanted in the first, functionalization takes place in the body in the second approach. For this purpose, cells can be transplanted (cell transplantation), or a suitable scaffold can be used to attract cells from local sources (cell homing)