Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, is a serious disease of the joints affecting nearly 10% of the population worldwide. The disease represents a significant economic burden to patients and society in Europe, with the cost of OA per patient calculated to exceed €10,000 per annum. At present the treatment options for OA are limited to surgical replacement of the diseased joint with a prosthesis. While this procedure is well established, it is not without its limitations and failures are not uncommon. Joint replacement prostheses also have a finite lifespan, making them unsuitable for the growing population of younger and more active patients requiring treatment for OA. In recent years there has been increased interest in the use of cell based therapies for the treatment of small focal cartilage defects within synovial joints such as the knee. While significant progress has been made in this field, realising an efficacious therapeutic option for the treatment of OA remains elusive and is considered to be one of the greatest challenges in the field of orthopaedic medicine. The objective of this proposal was to use 3D bioprinting to generate anatomically accurate, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) laden biological implants that can be used to regenerate an entire synovial joint such as the knee. As part of this project, we demonstrated that emerging biofabrication techniques such as 3D bioprinting could be used to generate implants with mechanical properties very similar to biological tissues such as the articular cartilage in synovial joints. Furthermore, we demonstrated how bioprinting can be used to develop implants capable of accelerating the regeneration of large bone defects. Together these developments have the potential to transform the future treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and diseases.
