Hybrid 3D bioprinting hierarchical structure for cartilage tissue engineering

• Main Author: Muhammad Firdaus Bin Zainal
• Other Authors: Paulo Jorge Da Silva Bartolo
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/177868
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper highlights the need to overcome osteoarthritis. The hierarchical structure of the articular cartilage is an important part of the knee as it determines its mechanical properties. The hierarchical structures of the articular cartilage are difficult to reproduce with traditional methods. Thus, the need to take advantage of advances in technology is of utmost importance. The current methods of knee articular cartilage repair such as total knee replacement, knee microfracture surgery and tibial osteotomy are studied and analysed. The advantages and disadvantages of the methods are discussed in this study to give an overview of the different techniques. The ongoing advancement on the research of hydrogels holds promise for the development of a long-term solution to an age-old problem. The everchanging landscape of materials leads to new solutions. The different material characteristics required to successfully utilise extrusion based bioprinting are explored. This research aims to apply a novel approach to cartilage repair by taking advantage of advances in 3D bioprinting that are introduced and investigate the suitability of such an approach by characterising the material properties. The fabrication of the 3D bioprinted structure involves producing the scaffold by changing the printing properties.