LAB BIO-PRINTS LIVING HUMAN CARTILAGE (Orthopedics This Week)
In a major step forward researchers have succeeded in creating living, human cartilage that they grew on a laboratory chip. This development brings them closer to their ultimate goal which is creating replacement cartilage for patients with osteoarthritis. The process used bioprinting technology.
Leader of the research group is Rocky Tuan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He said that creation of the artificial cartilage required three main elements: stem cells, biological factors to help the cells grow into cartilage, and a scaffold to give the tissue its shape. He said that his team’s process involved the extrusion of thin layers of stem cells embedded in a solution that retains its shape and provides the growth factors.
“We essentially speed up the development process by giving the cells everything they need, while creating a scaffold to give the tissue the exact shape and structure that we want,” Tuan explained.
At present, the researchers are working to combine their 3D printing method with a nanofiber spinning technique they dev...
