Review: tissue engineering for regeneration of articular cartilage

Joint pain due to cartilage degeneration is a serious problem, affecting pe ople of all ages. Although many techniques, often surgical, are currently e mployed to treat this affliction, none have had complete success. Recent ad vances in biology and materials science have pushed tissue engineering to t he forefront of new cartilage repair techniques. This review seeks to conde nse information for the biomaterialist interested in developing materials f or this application. Articular cartilage anatomy, types of injury, and curr ent repair methods are explained. The need for biomaterials, current common ly used materials for tissue-engineered cartilage, and considerations in sc ale-up of cell-biomaterial constructs are summarized. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sci ence Ltd. All rights reserved.