The use of converging biofabrication techniques to address nature's complexity in joint repair

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies offer multiple possibilities for the custom-tailored fabrication of either cartilage or bone grafts. However, employing this technology for the integration of different materials that possess mechanically distinct properties, is still a major challenge in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. To address this challenge, two main approaches were developed in this thesis: 1) the development of printable materials for use as a bone scaffold with physical and chemical properties that permit their patterning in direct contact with the microfiber-reinforced hydrogels that are used as chondral substitutes, and 2) the development of a multi-scale printing process for integrating such bone and cartilage compartments. Therefore, this thesis presents a promising strategy for combining different 3D printing technologies to integrate microfiber-reinforced, hydrogel-based chondral constructs and calcium phosphate-based subchondral bone compartments, in order to establish and engineer a functional osteochondral interface.