Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that limits mobility of the affected joint due to the degradation of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. The limited regenerative capacity of cartilage presents significant challenges when attempting to repair or reverse the effects of cartilage degradation. Tissue engineered medical products are a promising alternative to treat osteochondral degeneration due to their potential to integrate into the patient’s existing tissue. The goal of this study was to create a scaffold that would induce site‐specific osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose‐derived stem cells (hASC) to generate a full osteochondral implant. Scaffolds were fabricated using…
Electrospun scaffolds provide a dense framework of nanofibers with pore sizes and fiber diameters that closely resemble the architecture of native extracellular matrix. However, it generates limited three-dimensional structures of relevant physiological thicknesses. 3D printing allows digitally controlled fabrication of three-dimensional single/multimaterial constructs with precisely ordered fiber and pore architecture in a single build. However, this approach generally lacks the ability to achieve submicron resolution features to mimic native tissue. The goal of this study was to fabricate and evaluate 3D printed, electrospun, and combination of 3D printed/electrospun scaffolds to mimic the native architecture of heterogeneous tissue. We assessed their…
Purpose This study investigates the effect of 3D-bioplotted polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold geometry on the biological and mechanical characteristics of human adipose-derived stem cell (hASC) seeded constructs. Design/methodology/approach Four 3D-bioplotted scaffold disc designs (Ø14.5 x 2 mm) with two levels of strand-pore feature sizes and two strand laydown patterns (0°/90° or 0°/120°/240°) were evaluated for hASC viability, proliferation, and construct compressive stiffness after 14 days of in vitro cell culture. Findings Scaffolds with the highest porosity (smaller strand-pore size in 0°/120°/240°) yielded the highest hASC proliferation and viability. Further testing of this design in a 6 mm thick configuration showed that…