DEVELOPMENT OF A TISSUE ANALOG FOR CARTILAGE REPAIR

FOLLOWING INJURY, ARTICULAR CARTILAGE EITHER FAILS TO REPAIRCOMPLETELY OR REPAIRS IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT LOSES ITS FORMER BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOMECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS-A PROBLEM THAT PRESENT TREATMENT MODALITIES ARE INADEQUATE IN ADDRESSING. PREVIOUS REPORTS BY HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE VIABILITY OF USING CHONDROCYTE TRANSPLANTS TO HEAL LESIONS IN ARTICULAR CARTILAGE. WHILE THESE REPORTS ARE ENCOURAGING, THERE REMAINS THE NEED TO IMPROVE THE EFFICACY AND REPRODUCIBILITY OF SUCH A PROCEDURE. THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE USE OF A COLLOGEN-CHONDROCYTE COMPOSITE TO IMMOBILIZE CHONDROCYTES WITHIN A MATRIX AND THUS MAINTAIN THEIR LOCATION WITHIN A CARTILAGE DEFECT. IN VITRO AND IN VIVO PILOT EXPERIMENTS WILL BE USED TO INVESTIGATE THE VIABILITY OF A TISSUE ANALOG CONSISTING OF ACOLLAGEN MATRIX AND CULTURED CHONDROCYTES. INITIAL EXPERIMENTATION WILL DEFINE THE VARIOUS PARAMETERS OF CELLULAR INGROWTH AND METABOLISM IN COLLAGEN MATRICES HAVINGDIFFERENT PORE SIZES. THESE SAMPLES WILL BE EVALUATED HISTOLOGICALLY, BIOCHEMICALLY, AND AUTORADIOGRAPHICALLY. THE SECOND PHASE OF THIS WORK WILL EVALUATE TISSUE REPAIR PROPERTIES OF THE TISSUE ANALOG IN VIVO FOR THE PURPOSE OF HEALING CARTILAGE LESIONS. SAMPLES WILL BE EVALUATED HISTOLOGICALLY, BIOCHEMICALLY, AUTORADIOGRAPHICALLY, AND BIOMECHANICALLY.