Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesNarrative ReviewEurope PMCOpen access

High Hopes for the Biofabrication of Articular Cartilage-What Lies beyond the Horizon of Tissue Engineering and 3D Bioprinting?

Sbirkov Y., Redzheb M., Forraz N., McGuckin C., Sarafian V.

Narrative Review, published in Biomedicines (2024) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

Open my reading list
Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesEvidence level of this study

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
Read the A–D evidence level guide

This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Narrative Review
Journal
Biomedicines (2024)
Reported sample size
—
Source database
Europe PMC
PMID
38540278
PMCID
PMC10968021
DOI
10.3390/biomedicines12030665
Citations
2

Abstract (original English)

Technologies and biomaterials for 3D bioprinting have been developing extremely quickly in the past decade as they hold great potential in tissue engineering. This, together with the possibility to differentiate stem cells of different origin into any cell type, raises the hopes in regenerative medicine once again after the initial breakthrough with stem cells in the 1980s. Nevertheless, three decades of 3D bioprinting experiments have shown that the production of functional tissues would take a longer time than anticipated. Cartilage, one of the simplest tissues in the body, consists of only one cell type. It is not vascularised and innervated and does not have lymphatic vessels either, which makes it a perfect target tissue for successful implantation. The tremendous amount of work since the beginning of this century, combining the efforts of bioengineers, material scientists, biologists, and physicians, has culminated in multiple proof-of-concept constructs that have been implanted in animals. However, there is no single reproducible, standardised, widely accessible and accepted strategy that can be readily applied in the clinic. In this review, we focus on the current progress in the field of the 3D biofabrication of articular cartilage and critically assess failures and future challenges.

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
  • • This is a narrative review: it collects no new patient data and does not systematically appraise evidence quality.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

How we grade evidence

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.