Projects
Osteochondral Implant
Development of a Novel Osteochondral Implant
Lead N8 Academic: Dr Paul Genever, York
The Problem:
Cartilage has a limited capacity for self-repair and accumulates damage throughout life. Current surgical procedures to treat cartilage defects lack efficacy in many patients. Autologous chondrocyte implants fail due to lack of integration with the host and in addition create a second wound in the donor site.
A ceramic scaffold has been manufactured using the rapid prototyping technique of selective laser sintering. Researchers have developed a method to change the properties of this scaffold which allows support both of both cartilage and bone formation from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The manufacturing process allows the scaffold to be customised to match the patient’s cartilage defect
The Aims:
The team will determine the optimum conditions for bone and cartilage generation on the scaffold. The team will use sophisticated fluorescent reporter assays to elucidate the time course and site specific fate of the mesenchymal stem cells seeded onto the scaffold. An osteo-chondral construct will be developed and tested in pre-clinical models of cartilage defect repair.
The Team:
University of York: Dr Paul Genever is a senior lecturer in the department of Biology with significant expertise in mesenchymal stem cells and skeletal biology.
University of Leeds: Professor David Wood (professor of Biomaterials) and Dr Xuebin Yang(Head of Tissue Engineering) at the Department of Oral Biology have considerable experience in bone engineering. Further more Dr Yang has a background in orthopaedic surgery.
University of Newcastle: Professor Kenneth Dalgano (Professor of manufacturing engineering) in the department of mechanical and systems engineering has considerable expertise in rapid prototyping of orthopaedic devices.
