• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, August 21, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Tissue Engineering

Soft-tissue engineering for hard-working cartilage

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 16, 2015
in Tissue Engineering
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Focusing on the difficult case of restoring cartilage, which requires both flexibility and mechanical strength, the researchers investigated a new combination of 3-D printed microfiber scaffolding and hydrogels. The composites they tested showed elasticity and stiffness comparable to knee-joint tissue, as well as the ability to support the growth and cross-linking of human cartilage cells. Researchers at the Technische Universität München (TUM) expect the new approach to have an impact on other areas of soft-tissue engineering research, including breast reconstruction and heart tissue engineering.

Hutmacher is a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow

Based at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, Prof. Hutmacher is a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. Image: D. Hutmacher / QUT

A new 3-D printing technique called melt electrospinning writing played a key role, simultaneously providing room for cell growth as well as the needed mechanical stiffness. This method offers much more freedom in the design of scaffolding to promote healing and growth of new tissue, explains Prof. Dietmar W. Hutmacher, one of the lead authors. “It allows us to more closely imitate nature’s way of building joint cartilage,” he says, “which means reinforcing a soft gel – proteoglycans or, in our case, a biocompatible hydrogel – with a network of very thin fibers.” Scaffolding filaments produced by melt electrospinning writing can be as thin as five micrometers in diameter, a 20-fold improvement over conventional methods.

Based at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, Prof. Hutmacher is a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. His TUM-IAS Focus Group on Regenerative Medicine is hosted by TUM Prof. Arndt Schilling, head of the Research Dept. of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at TUM’s university hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar.

Multi-pronged study of a versatile technology

The collaborators – working in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK – brought a wide range of research tools to bear on this investigation. Efforts focusing on the design, fabrication, and mechanical testing of hydrogel-fiber composites were complemented by comparisons with equine knee-joint cartilage, experiments with the growth of human cartilage cells in the artificial matrix, and computational simulations.

All the evidence points in the direction of what Hutmacher calls, cautiously, a breakthrough. Having validated the computer model of their hydrogel-fiber composites, the researchers are using it to assess a variety of potential applications. “The new approach looks promising not only for joint repair, but also for uses such as breast reconstruction following a post-tumor mastectomy or heart tissue engineering,” Prof. Hutmacher says. “We need to implant the scaffolding under the muscle, and fiber-reinforced hydrogel could prove critical in regenerating large volumes of breast tissue, as well as the biomechanically highly loaded heart valves.”

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Technische Universität München.

Share14Tweet9Share3ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Mini breasts grown in petri dishes for cancer research

June 12, 2015
blank

Breakthrough in 3-D printing of replacement body parts

April 29, 2015

New material for creating artificial blood vessels

April 28, 2015

Scientists grow leg muscle from cells in a dish

February 25, 2015
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    141 shares
    Share 56 Tweet 35
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    114 shares
    Share 46 Tweet 29
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    81 shares
    Share 32 Tweet 20
  • Modified DASH Diet Reduces Blood Sugar Levels in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes, Clinical Trial Finds

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Celebrating 30 Years of Nanoimprint Lithography: Pioneering a New Era in Nanomanufacturing

Combination Therapy Enhances Treatment Outcomes in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Mount Sinai Researchers Develop First Targeted Therapy for Rare T-Cell Lymphoma Following CAR T Treatment

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.