Cartilage

​Degeneration of cartilage in joints can be seriously painful, and it can be extremely difficult to repair. A new research effort could improve the situation, with scientists designing a new method for making artificial cartilage implants that leverages 3D printing technology.

Pioneering technologies like 3D printing have had a huge impact on the medical world, and now a new material could lead to implants for replacing damaged cartilage. The new material mimics the properties of the real thing, while encouraging the re-growth of natural cartilage.

Researchers at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have successfully created cartilage using a MakerBot 3D printer. The team made use of the technology to quickly and affordably prototype and refine the bioprosthesis.

Depending on the part of the body and the nature of the injury, cartilage either doesn’t grow back at all, or does so very slowly. Now, however, researchers are reporting that cartilage cells harvested from a patient’s own nose can be used to grow replacement cartilage for their knee.

Cartilage grown in a flat Petri dish may not be optimally-shaped for replacing the body's own natural cartilage parts. Scientists from a consortium of UK universities, however, are developing a possible solution. They're using "ultrasonic tweezers" to grow cartilage in mid-air.

3D bioprinting experts at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine are examining techniques that print stem cells into robust scaffolding structures directly at the site of cartilage damage, in an effort to repair damaged cartilage and prevent osteoarthritis.

Researchers from Switzerland's University of Basel have performed nose reconstruction surgery using engineered cartilage grown in the laboratory. The cartilage was spawned form the patient's own cells in an approach that could circumvent the need for more invasive surgeries and their side-effects.

Researchers aim to grow a human ear via stem cells taken from a patient's fat tissue. Relatively little attention has been given to the reconstruction of damaged cartilage around the cranial area, however the new method is hoped to modernize this area of reconstructive surgery.

The BioPen is a handheld device designed to let surgeons "draw" live cells and growth factors directly onto the site of an injury to help accelerate the regeneration of functional bone and cartilage.

Scientist have used a 3D printer along with collagen and cartilage cells, to grow replacement human ears in a lab.

Scientists have used an experimental type of 3D printer to produce implantable cartilage.

Scientists at Harvard University have created a hydrogel that’s tough, biocompatible, self-healing, and can be repeatedly stretched to 21 times its regular length without breaking.