Researchers devise method of producing composite scaffolds

According to Pennsylvania University, bioengineered replacements for tendons, ligaments, the meniscus of the knee and other tissues require recreation of the architecture of these tissues in three dimensions.

These fibrous, collagen-based tissues located throughout the body have an ordered structure that gives them their robust ability to bear extreme mechanical loading.

Many labs have been designing treatments for anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus tears of the knee and rotator cuff injuries.

One approach has involved the use of scaffolds made from nanosized fibres, which can guide tissue to grow in an organised way.

However, the fibres’ widespread application in orthopaedics has been slowed because cells do not readily colonise the scaffolds if fibres are too tightly packed.

Robert L Mauck, professor of orthopaedic surgery and bioengineering, and Brendon M Baker, previously a graduate student in the Mauck lab at the university’s Perelman School of Medicine, have developed and validated a new technology in which composite nanofibrous scaffolds provide a loose enough structure for cells to colonise without impediment but can still instruct cells how to lay down new tissue.