A novel 3D Osteochondral Scaffold with Mechano-identical properties of the native tissue for in situ tissue regeneration

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

OA is a chronic global disease affecting over 8.5 million people in the UK, causing loss of the articular cartilage surface and changes in the underlying bone. This causes painful, stiff joints and progressive loss of joint mobility leading to functional impairment which can affect daily living and work activities causing a profound loss of quality of life.Knee and hip joints have the major share of the OA burden loss of joint function. Treatments for OA give valuable pain relief and symptom control but there is no cure.The progressive disabling nature of OA produces a substantial socio-economic burden of 1-2% GDP. Replacement of the joint with an artificial one may be necessary to restore joint movement, particularly in the knee and hip with 150,000 primary joint replacement operations per annum. While successful, replacement joints have a limited working life and may loosen requiring further corrective surgery. There is an unmet clinical need for an effective and economic regenerative therapy to treat OA and restore function to the joint.Many patients would benefit if there was a more effective repair of lesions in the joint surface and underlying bone caused by trauma (a risk factor for OA) or early osteoarthritis. We propose an 'off-the shelf', multifunctional, osteochondral scaffold with physical and mechanical properties to match the biomechanical environment of native osteochondral tissue and designed to promote articular cartilage regeneration by actively recruiting , binding and promoting chondrogenesis of stem cells released surgically during scaffold implantation.