Tissue engineering of transplantable tubular tissue necessitates a composite approach to assembling the individual components. In the engineering of tubular structures (gastrointestinal, urogenital and vascular tissues) there is a demand for smooth muscle tissue in addition to the primary organ-specific tissue. This study aims to investigate the interaction of smooth muscle cells on bovine collagen scaffolds cross-linked with glutaraldehyde under in vitro conditions, using scanning electron microscopy. The density of tissue generated over the 8 week period was demonstrated in terms of: (a) scaffold coverage and attachment; (b) cell density; (c) cell viability deep inside the scaffolds; and (d) cell differentiation.