• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.231-240
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• 2014

Cartilage has a limited regenerative capacity. Faced with the clinical challenge of reconstruction of cartilage defects, the field of cartilage engineering has evolved. This article reviews current concepts and strategies in cartilage engineering with an emphasis on the application of nanotechnology in the production of biomimetic cartilage regenerative scaffolds. The structural architecture and composition of the cartilage extracellular matrix and the evolution of tissue engineering concepts and scaffold technology over the last two decades are outlined. Current advances in biomimetic techniques to produce nanoscaled fibrous scaffolds, together with innovative methods to improve scaffold biofunctionality with bioactive cues are highlighted. To date, the majority of research into cartilage regeneration has been focused on articular cartilage due to the high prevalence of large joint osteoarthritis in an increasingly aging population. Nevertheless, the principles and advances are applicable to cartilage engineering for plastic and reconstructive surgery.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.48-50
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• 2002

Cartilage defects are common and painful conditions that affect people of all ages. Although many techniques have developed, none of the current available treatment options is satisfactory. Recent advances in biology and materials science have pushed tissue engineering to the forefront of new cartilage repair techniques. The purpose of this study is to determine effective regeneration method for tissue-engineered cartilage. A serum free medium was developed for cartilage tissue engineering. Chondrocyte passage number was found to influence greatly on cartilage tissue formation in vivo. Injectable, biodegradable polymer matrix was developed for chondrocyte transplantation through injection. Transplantation of chondrocytes mixed with the injectable matrices resulted in the cartilage formation in nude mice's subcutaneous sites and rabbit knees. This study may lead to the development of tissue-engineered cartilage appropriate for clinical applications.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.43-47
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• 2015

Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint disease in the world. With its progression, cartilage thickness tends to diminish, which causes severe pain to human being. One way to examine the stage of osteoarthritis is to measure the cartilage thickness. When it comes to inter-subject study, however, it is not easy task to compare cartilage thickness since every human being has different cartilage structure. In this paper, we propose a method to assess cartilage defect using MRI inter-subject thickness comparison. First, we used manual segmentation method to build accurate atlas images and each segmented image was labeled as articular surface and bone-cartilage interface in order to measure the thickness. Secondly, each point in the bone-cartilage interface was assigned the measured thickness so that the thickness does not change after registration. We used affine transformation and SyGN to get deformation fields which were then applied to thickness images to have cartilage thickness atlas. In this way, it is possible to investigate pixel-by-pixel thickness comparison. Lastly, the atlas images were made according to their osteoarthritis grade which indicates the degree of its progression. The result atlas images were compared using the analysis of variance in order to verify the validity of our method. The result shows that a significant difference is existed among them with p < 0.001.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.392-403
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• 2020

Severe cartilage defects and congenital anomalies affect millions of people and involve considerable medical expenses. Tissue engineering offers many advantages over conventional treatments, as therapy can be tailored to specific defects using abundant bioengineered resources. This article introduces the basic concepts of cartilage tissue engineering and reviews recent progress in the field, with a focus on craniofacial reconstruction and facial aesthetics. The basic concepts of tissue engineering consist of cells, scaffolds, and stimuli. Generally, the cartilage tissue engineering process includes the following steps: harvesting autologous chondrogenic cells, cell expansion, redifferentiation, in vitro incubation with a scaffold, and transfer to patients. Despite the promising prospects of cartilage tissue engineering, problems and challenges still exist due to certain limitations. The limited proliferation of chondrocytes and their tendency to dedifferentiate necessitate further developments in stem cell technology and chondrocyte molecular biology. Progress should be made in designing fully biocompatible scaffolds with a minimal immune response to regenerate tissue effectively

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.472-480
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• 2010

Mechanically deformed cartilage undergoes a temperature dependent phase transformation resulting in reshaping of cartilage. Laser-assisted cartilage reshaping (LCR) is recently introduced to recreate the underlying cartilage framework in structures such as ear, larynx, trachea, and nose. However, this procedure has not been fully supported by confirmed efficacy because of the lack of scientific research and its safety issues. The purpose of this study is to evaluate current laser sources to determine optimal laser wavelength for LCR using mathematical simulations and investigate optical, thermo-mechanical, and backscattering properties of cartilage after laser irradiation. The results showed that 1444 nm wavelength was effective for reshaping of cartilage with minimal thermal damage in the surrounded tissues by monte carlo simulations. Analysis of bend angle changes, thermo-mechanical characteristics, and backscattered properties may be useful to better identify the biophysical transformation responsible for stress relaxation in cartilage and develop an optical feedback control methodologies.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.364-367
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• 2006

In order to enhance the repair of defects in articular cartilage via cell therapy with autologous chondrocytes, as well as with periosteum-derived progenitor cells (PDPCs), silkworm hemolymph (SH) and a variety of cartilage-specific extracellular matrices (ECMs) including type II collagen, proline, chondroitin 4-sulfate, and chondroitin 6-sulfate were assessed with regard to their efficacy as media supplements. SH, a known anti-apoptotic agent, was found to enhance cell growth, as was shown by the results of a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. According to the results of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses, the cartilage-specific ECMs were found to stimulate the expression of hyaline cartilage-specific genes, most notably type II collagen and Sox9, in monolayer cultures of PDPCs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.259-264
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• 2005

Transplantation of cultured chondrocytes can regenerate cartilage tissues in cartilage defects in humans. However, this method requires a long culture period to expand chondrocytes to a large number of cells for transplantation. In addition, chondrocytes may dedifferentiate during long-term culture. These problems can potentially be overcome by the use of undifferentiated or partially developed cartilage precursor cells derived from neonatal cartilage, which, unlike chondrocytes from adult cartilage, have the capacity for rapid in vitro cell expansion and may retain their differentiated phenotype during long-term culture. The purpose of this study was to compare the cell growth rate and phenotypic modulation during in vitro culture between adult chondrocytes and neonatal chondrocytes, and to demonstrate the feasibility of regenerating cartilage tissues in vivo by transplantation of neonatal chondrocytes expanded in vitro and seeded onto polymer scaffolds. When cultured in vitro, chondrocytes isolated from neonatal (immediately postpartum, 2 h of age) rats exhibited much higher growth rate than chondrocytes isolated from adult rats. After 5 days of culture, more neonatal chondrocytes were in the differentiated state than adult chondrocytes. Cultured neonatal chondrocytes were seeded onto biodegradable polymer scaffolds and transplanted into athymic mice's subcutaneous sites. Four weeks after implantation, neonatal chondrocyte-seeded scaffolds formed white cartilaginous tissues. Histological analysis of the implants with hematoxylin and eosin showed mature and well-formed cartilage. Alcian blue/ safranin-O staining and Masson's trichrome staining indicated the presence of highly sulfated glycosarninoglycans and collagen, respectively, both of which are the major extracellular matrices of cartilage. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the collagen was mainly type II, the major collagen type in cartilage. These results showed that neonatal chondrocytes have potential to be a cell source for cartilage tissue engineering.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.169-173
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• 2007

During laser irradiation, mechanically deformed cartilage undergoes a temperature dependent phase transformation resulting in accelerated stress relaxation. Clinically, laser-assisted cartilage reshaping may be used to recreate the underlying cartilaginous framework in structures such as ear, larynx, trachea, and nose. Therefore, research and identification of the biophysical transformations in cartilage accompanying laser heating are valuable to identify critical laser dosimetry and phase transformation of cartilage for many clinical applications. quasi-elastic light scattering was investigated using Ho : YAG laser $(\lambda=2.12{\mu}m\;;\;t_p\sim450{\mu}s)$ and Nd:YAG Laser $(\lambda=1.32{\mu}m\;;\;t_p\sim700{\mu}s)$ for heating sources and He : Ne $(\lambda=632.8nm)$ laser, high-power diode pumped laser $(\lambda=532nm)$, and Ti : $Al_2O_3$ femtosecond laser $(\lambda=850nm)$ for light scattering sources. A spectrometer and infrared radiometric sensor were used to monitor the backscattered light spectrum and transient temperature changes from cartilage following laser irradiation. Analysis of the optical, thermal, and quasi-elastic light scattering properties may indicate internal dynamics of proteoglycan movement within the cartilage framework during laser irradiation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.270-277
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• 2011

Laser cartilage reshaping(LCR) is a promising method for reshaping cartilage by using laser irradiation to maintain permanently modifies its shape. However this method has not been fully understood due to the limited scientific researches. The purpose of this study is to analyze optical and thermal characteristics of cartilage during laser irradiation. After analyzing Monte Carlo simulation for the comparison of laser fluence distributions with different laser wavelengths the characterization of the spectral changes during Nd:YAG laser(${\lambda}$ = 1444 nm) irradiation was investigated in the ranges of 900-1700 nm with double integrating spheres. The surface temperature distribution changes during laser irradiation were investigated with an infrared camera. The quantitative measurements of optical and thermal characteristics in cartilage after laser irradiation were correlated with the transition of water flux(from bound to free water) and this study may be useful for better understanding of biophysical transformation phenomena in cartilage after laser heating.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.137-143
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to characterize the role of synovial fluid and hyaluronan in the frictional response of bovine articular cartilage. Seven cylindrical cartilage specimens were harvested from three fresh bovine humoral heads (4-6 months old). Reciprocal sliding motion (1mm/s) was provided by a custom-made friction testing apparatus with a normal load of 22.3 N. From the measured time-dependent normal and frictional forces, the minimum and maximum frictional coefficients were calculated. Synovial fluid reduced the minimum frictional coefficient by ${\sim}75$ % and maximum frictional coefficient by ${\sim}11%$, while the reduction of the minimum and maximum frictional coefficients with hyaluronan was ${\sim}42%$ and ${\sim}24%$, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this experimental study investigates the first such comparisons of frictional response of articular cartilage with and without synovial fluid and hyaluronan, and provides significant insights into their role in the articular cartilage friction and lubrication.