Advances in Additive Manufactured Scaffolds Mimicking the Osteochondral Interface

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Interfacial tissues exhibit complex architectural, compositional, and mechanical gradients.
• Recreating these gradients in porous scaffolds for tissue regeneration is challenging.
• Osteochondral (OC) defects, common in osteoarthritis, require advanced regenerative strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a state-of-the-art overview of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques for gradient scaffolds in OC regeneration.
• To analyze thermoplastic, hydrogel, and hybrid scaffolds with physical and biological gradients.
• To assess the impact of these gradient scaffolds on OC tissue formation in vitro and in vivo.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on AM for gradient scaffold fabrication.
• Focus on scaffolds with biomimetic physical and biological properties.
• Analysis of in vitro and in vivo studies on osteochondral tissue formation.

Main Results:

• AM enables the fabrication of gradient scaffolds with tunable properties.
• Gradient scaffolds, particularly thermoplastic, hydrogel, and hybrid types, show promise for OC regeneration.
• These scaffolds influence cell fate and promote osteochondral tissue formation.

Conclusions:

• Gradient scaffolds manufactured by AM are a promising approach for osteochondral regeneration.
• Biomimetic physical and biological gradients are crucial for guiding tissue formation.
• Future directions include the use of dynamic materials to enhance scaffold mimicry for OC repair.