George J. Klarmann , Maria E. Piroli , Joseph R. Loverde , Andrew F. Nelson , Zhaozhang Li , Kristin H. Gilchrist , Joel D. Gaston , Vincent B. Ho
{"title":"3D printing a universal knee meniscus using a custom collagen ink","authors":"George J. Klarmann , Maria E. Piroli , Joseph R. Loverde , Andrew F. Nelson , Zhaozhang Li , Kristin H. Gilchrist , Joel D. Gaston , Vincent B. Ho","doi":"10.1016/j.bprint.2023.e00272","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Tears of the meniscus are among the most commonly diagnosed knee injuries. Because most of the meniscus lacks the ability to self-heal due to its low vascularity, surgical intervention is needed in more than 85% of cases. Tissue-engineered meniscal implants may provide a treatment strategy that better supports healing and long-term health and mobility benefits. We used three-dimensional printing to develop a “universal” human meniscal tissue repair device that can be trimmed to match the corresponding area of damage debrided during the patient's surgical repair. Computer aided design software was used to design an adult meniscus of average shape based on published physical dimensions. To reproduce the natural fiber arrangement found in the meniscus, the tool path for 3D bioprinting was structured to use alternating layers of circumferential and radial extrusions. We also developed extrudable, shear thinning bioinks based on meniscus biochemical components, including collagen I methacrylate, collagen II, and chondroitin sulfate methacrylate. The combination of this tissue-specific bioink and the deposition pattern to build the meniscus are novel. Ink formulations were evaluated with rheology to assess the viscosity and post-gelling stiffness. Inks retained shape fidelity when thermally gelled after printing into a support bath, and the fabricated menisci maintained stable dimensions for up to 4 weeks post printing. Bioprinted menisci containing human mesenchymal stem cells were also dimensionally stable, and viable cells were present up to 4 weeks post printing. Increased glycosaminoglycan deposition was noted in the bioprinted meniscus over 21 days, and decorin and collagen type I gene expression increased. Compression testing demonstrated that Young's modulus approaches 100 kPa when molded as a solid object and 45 kPa when extruded into the meniscus shape. This 3D printed, anisotropic meniscus emulates the natural architecture and biochemical composition of the natural human meniscus and has potential to be developed into a device for use in treatment of meniscal injuries.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":37770,"journal":{"name":"Bioprinting","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Bioprinting","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405886623000155","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Computer Science","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Tears of the meniscus are among the most commonly diagnosed knee injuries. Because most of the meniscus lacks the ability to self-heal due to its low vascularity, surgical intervention is needed in more than 85% of cases. Tissue-engineered meniscal implants may provide a treatment strategy that better supports healing and long-term health and mobility benefits. We used three-dimensional printing to develop a “universal” human meniscal tissue repair device that can be trimmed to match the corresponding area of damage debrided during the patient's surgical repair. Computer aided design software was used to design an adult meniscus of average shape based on published physical dimensions. To reproduce the natural fiber arrangement found in the meniscus, the tool path for 3D bioprinting was structured to use alternating layers of circumferential and radial extrusions. We also developed extrudable, shear thinning bioinks based on meniscus biochemical components, including collagen I methacrylate, collagen II, and chondroitin sulfate methacrylate. The combination of this tissue-specific bioink and the deposition pattern to build the meniscus are novel. Ink formulations were evaluated with rheology to assess the viscosity and post-gelling stiffness. Inks retained shape fidelity when thermally gelled after printing into a support bath, and the fabricated menisci maintained stable dimensions for up to 4 weeks post printing. Bioprinted menisci containing human mesenchymal stem cells were also dimensionally stable, and viable cells were present up to 4 weeks post printing. Increased glycosaminoglycan deposition was noted in the bioprinted meniscus over 21 days, and decorin and collagen type I gene expression increased. Compression testing demonstrated that Young's modulus approaches 100 kPa when molded as a solid object and 45 kPa when extruded into the meniscus shape. This 3D printed, anisotropic meniscus emulates the natural architecture and biochemical composition of the natural human meniscus and has potential to be developed into a device for use in treatment of meniscal injuries.
期刊介绍:
Bioprinting is a broad-spectrum, multidisciplinary journal that covers all aspects of 3D fabrication technology involving biological tissues, organs and cells for medical and biotechnology applications. Topics covered include nanomaterials, biomaterials, scaffolds, 3D printing technology, imaging and CAD/CAM software and hardware, post-printing bioreactor maturation, cell and biological factor patterning, biofabrication, tissue engineering and other applications of 3D bioprinting technology. Bioprinting publishes research reports describing novel results with high clinical significance in all areas of 3D bioprinting research. Bioprinting issues contain a wide variety of review and analysis articles covering topics relevant to 3D bioprinting ranging from basic biological, material and technical advances to pre-clinical and clinical applications of 3D bioprinting.