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18.1 Background
e loss or failure of tissue or an organ is a recurrent and costly health problem worldwide. e aim of
tissue engineering is to restore, maintain, or improve the functionality of lost or damaged tissue by the
use of cells. is requires detailed characterization of the generated construct and microscopy tech-
niques based on nonlinear optical interactions have become increasingly used for this purpose. is
chapter is focused on second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy applied as tool in tissue engineer-
ing. A short background on tissue engineering and microscopy techniques for tissue characterization is
followed by presentat ...