Advances in Additive Manufactured Scaffolds Mimicking the Osteochondral Interface

Abstract

Architectural, compositional, and mechanical gradients are present in many interfacial tissues in the body. Yet desired for regeneration, the recreation of these complex natural gradients in porous scaffolds remains a challenging task. Additive manufacturing (AM) has been highlighted as a technology to fabricate constructs to regenerate interfacial tissues. Integration of different types of gradients, which can be physical, mechanical, and/or biochemical, shows promise to control cell fate and the regeneration process in a spatial controlled manner. One of the most studied tissue interfaces is the osteochondral unit which connects cartilage to bone. This tissue is often damaged because of trauma or ageing, leading to osteoarthritis; a degenerative disease and a major cause of disability worldwide. Therefore, in view of osteochondral (OC) regeneration, a state-of-the-art overview of current approaches is presented to manufacture gradient scaffolds prepared by AM techniques. The focus is on thermoplastic, hydrogel, and hybrid scaffolds comprising gradients that induce biomimicry by their physical and biological properties. The effect of these different systems on OC tissue formation in-vitro and in-vivo is addressed. Finally, an outlook on current trends of dynamic materials is provided, including proposals on how these materials could improve the mimicry of scaffolds applied for OC regeneration.