Articular cartilage joint surface reconstruction techniques

There is renewed interest in joint surface reconstruction using a variety of new and evolving techniques for articular cartilage resurfacing. Neochondrogenesis and articular cartilage transplantation are gaining a prominent place in orthopaedic basic science research. The authors have published a reliable, repeatable, stable, and sensitive model utilizing osteochondral dowel core transplantation in an ovine model to assess various treatment and follow-up evaluation techniques for articular cartilage transplantation. As well, our laboratory has developed a handheld articular cartilage indentor for clinical assessment of biomechanical performance of joint surfaces. This article presents and reviews that model as well as a semiquantitative visual analog scale for documenting articular cartilage gross morphology. The results of magnetic resonance imaging of the osteochondral dowel transplants and the gross morphology grading are compared to the histological and histochemical grading and biochemical and biomechanical assessments to form the foundation for future work in this critical and important study area for clinical application.