Hypothetical Design and In Vitro Testing of a Biodegradable Scaffold for Cartilage and Osteochondral Defects

Hypothetical design and in vitro testing of a directly implantable biodegradable scaffold
for cartilage and osteochondral defects
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Hypothetical design and in vitro testing of a directly implantable biodegradable scaffold
for cartilage and osteochondral defects
Section 1: Define the clinical need
Orthopedic surgery often encounters various changes in defects linked to articular cartilage.
The observed poor healing capacity is linked to avascular which is the key motivation for
elaborate research and focus. Current repair techniques do not mimic the biochemical and
biological cartilage articulate propertes. Medical approaches have focussed on engineering of
rigid scaffolds which did not allow for proper seeding and penetration to occur. The use of
rigid scaffold, cell therapies, and hydrogels have been extensively been used to overcome
challenges with regard to cartilage repair and healing (Castro, Patel and Zhang, 20015).
Repair and healing management of native articular cartilage offers a compartmental structure
requiring adequate development in mimicking the structure. The function of the articular
cartilage entails the remission of joint loads to the underlying levels of subchondral bone
casuig impact and allwoign smooth flow of friction movement which aids in the glidal
movement process. Degeneration of cartilage occurs after trauma where the process of
recovery is often slow and nonexistence, the cartilage of articular lacks the needed healing
power to facilitate this (Shimoura et al., 2014).
The articular cartilage connective effect on the tissue extracellular matrices’ entails collagens,
proteoglycans, and water. The matrix contains dry weight and lower quantity of collagen
types V, CI, IX, X and XI which are interconnected together with the proteoglycans and
hyaluronate which have an estimate of 10% total weight.
One of the key defects occurring in the articular cartilage is degradation and lesion. Various
surgical methods and have often been used to manage this. These include the micro-
fracturing and mesenchymal stem cell implants, however, with this use, drawbacks have been
identified in these cases. These drawbacks include the low rate of survival. Cartilage
regeneration is a significant challenge due to the chondrocytes and the maturity of the
lymphatic system and the presence of vasculature posing declined proliferation and migration
ability. Development to lesions often lead to osteochondral devilment, thus necessitating the
need for cartilage reconstructing and management of the subchondral bone which have
different physiological functions, posing a challenge for development for development of one

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single scaffold which both address the double reconstructing of cartilage and the subchondral
bone without any defects (Hu et al., 2017).
The previous forms of antilogous osteochondral mosaicplasty are often challenging, its
obtained from none weighty areas of articular cartilage. Its usage has often been in use in the
management of cartilage damage and subchondral effects, however, it is associated with
significant high costs of management, the risk of immunologic rejection and pathogen
transmission issues (Bonnelye et al., 2008).
Subchondral tissue plays a fundamental function of the osteoarthritis relating to initiation and
termination process.The presence of bioactive ceramics has a role in the promotion of
subchondral and cartilage regeneration. Various implants have been developed, whoever
there often faced with poor mechanical properties and declined activities of biological which
have hampered scaffolds application. However, due to this complex interface occurring
between the cartilage and subchondral bone, mimicking of natural structure and physiological
function of tissues has often been a challenge. With this view, there is a need for the
development of intelligence of scalffold having bi lineage properties which are able to adjust
and fit the cartilage and subchondral microstructure. The beneficial effects to the patients in
this development are geared towards playing a fundamental role on maintaining human tissue
function in the bone (Okita et al., 2015).
The mechanism of Strontium oxide (SrO) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) are critical in the
management and the role it plays in the maintenance of human tissue functions in the bones.
Studies have indicated that Sr enhances the osteoconductivity action of calcium phosphates
and bone tissue property functions. Further Sr is thorough to promote the differentiation of
osteoblast and key function in the degeneration of cartilage and lowering the level of
apoptosis chondrocyte, which is essential in the osteoarthritis therapy process (Yu et al.,
2013).
Si on the other part is a key element which is essential in connective tissue development such
as in the articulate cartilage and bone development process. It involves in the mineralization
process of been formation and promotes the growth of the skeletal tissues and initiates
development. Further, the stimulation of extracellular matrix is stimulated by Si, promoting
the proliferation process of and management of osteoarthritis (Horecka et al., 2016).