Osteochondral tissue engineering: Perspectives for clinical application and preclinical development.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Orthopedic Surgery

Background:

• Osteochondral defects (OCDs) present a significant clinical challenge, with scaffold-based treatments offering a promising regenerative approach.
• Current consensus on the clinical effectiveness of scaffold-based therapies for OCDs is lacking.
• Existing reviews cover scaffold design and fabrication but insufficiently address the clinical-preclinical research gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To bridge the gap between clinical needs and preclinical research in osteochondral tissue engineering (TE).
• To identify shortcomings in current TE methods and preclinical studies that hinder satisfactory clinical outcomes for OCDs.
• To provide recommendations for developing more clinically relevant osteochondral implants.

Main Methods:

• Summarized currently available surgical treatments for OCDs.
• Conducted a comprehensive review of experimental animal studies in osteochondral TE over the past five years.
• Analyzed clinical and preclinical failures to identify limitations.

Main Results:

• Scaffold-based treatments are a promising avenue for osteochondral unit regeneration.
• A significant gap exists between preclinical research findings and successful clinical translation for OCDs.
• Current TE methods and animal studies often fail to yield satisfactory clinical outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Further research is needed to address the limitations in current osteochondral tissue engineering strategies.
• Recommendations are provided to improve the clinical relevance of implants and guide future research.
• Bridging the gap between preclinical research and clinical application is crucial for advancing OCD treatment.