The evaluation of gradient scaffolds for osteochondral regeneration
The goal of this project is to combine the promising osteochondral platform from LifeTec Group with the state-of-the-art imaging at Scannexus to evaluate the regenerative capacity of gradient scaffolds for the treatment of osteochondral defects developed by University Maastricht. This public-private collaboration combines the research at University Maastricht with the available technologies at Scannexus and the LifeTec Group B.V.
Articular cartilage injuries are common in orthopedic practice. Cartilage possesses very limited capacity for self-repair and therefore, cartilage defects do not heal spontaneously and are likely to progress into osteoarthritis if left untreated. Osteoarthritis affects millions of people worldwide. New and efficient treatment strategies are needed to treat osteochondral defects before deterioration into osteoarthritis.
Ideally, the treatment of cartilage defects would result in regenerated tissue which resembles the native osteochondral tissue in structure, composition and function. In this project, scaffolds that contain gradients in analogy to gradients found in native osteochondral tissue will be evaluated. The scaffolds will be tested in an ex vivo platform which mimics the in vivo tissue environment without using animal experiments.
To follow-up whether the repair tissue resembles the native osteochondral tissue, ultra-high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be used.
During the project, the ex vivo platform will be further optimized and imaging techniques to follow up osteochondral regeneration in the ex vivo platform by high field MRI will be developed to evaluate the regenerative potential of different gradient scaffolds. At the end of the project we will know more about the performance of different types of gradient scaffolds but we also hope to have designed a pipeline by which new techniques for osteochondral regeneration can be tested in an ex vivo setting to allow for a faster translation from newly developed techniques to clinical application.
