Meniscus Tissue Regeneration
People may live to be 125 years old, but they won’t outlive arthritis, which in millions of cases degenerates the knee’s meniscus. Surgical repair and transplants from cadavers have been possible, but not without problems. However, a professor of dentistry in orthopedic surgery at Columbia University Medical Center is developing an unusual tissue regeneration technique. The process begins with an MRI image of a normal menisus which is converted into a 3-D image. Then a 3-D printer makes a tissue scaffold from biodegradable polycaprolactone. Two recombinant growth factors, encapsulated in timed-release microspheres, are infused on the scaffold, which work by attracting existing stem cells. In experiments with sheep, complete regeneration took four to six weeks after transplantation. MORE
Image Credit: CUMC. Columbia