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PERSPECTIVE

Bioprinting of osteochondral tissues: A perspective on

current gaps and future trends

1
2
3,4
5,7
5,6
Pallab Datta , Aman Dhawan , Yin Yu , Dan Hayes , Hemanth Gudapati and Ibrahim T.
Ozbolat 5,6,7,8*
1 Centre for Healthcare Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology Shibpur, Howrah,
West Bengal 711103, India
2 Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Penn State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
3 Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
4 The Center for Engineering in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
5 The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
6 Biomedical Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
7 Engineering Science and Mechanics Department, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
8 Materials Research Institute, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Abstract: Osteochondral tissue regeneration has remained a critical challenge in orthopaedic surgery, especially due to
complications of arthritic degeneration arising out of mechanical dislocations of joints. The common gold standard of
autografting has several limitations in presenting tissue engineering strategies to solve the unmet clinical need. However,
due to the complexity of joint anatomy, and tissue heterogeneity at the interface, the conventional tissue engineering
strategies have certain limitations. The advent of bioprinting has now provided new opportunities for osteochondral tissue
engineering. Bioprinting can uniquely mimic the heterogeneous cellular composition and anisotropic extra-cellular matrix
(ECM) organization, while allowing for targeted gene delivery to achieve heterotypic differentiation. In this perspective,
we discuss the current advances made towards bioprinting of composite osteochondral tissues and present an account of
challenges—in terms of tissue integration, long-term survival, and mechanical strength at the time of implantation—required
to be addressed for effective clinical translation of bioprinted tissues. Finally, we highlight some of the future trends related
to osteochondral bioprinting with the hope of in-clinical translation.
Keywords: bioprinting; osteochondral injuries; zonal anisotropy; bioink; tissue engineering

*Correspondence to: Ibrahim T. Ozbolat, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA;
Email: ito1@psu.edu
Received: May 6, 2017; Accepted: June 7, 2017; Published Online: June 7, 2017

Citation: Datta P, Dhawan A, Yu Y, et al., 2017, Bioprinting of osteochondral tissues: A perspective on current gaps and future trends.
International Journal of Bioprinting, vol.3(2): 109–120. http://dx.doi.org/10.18063/IJB.2017.02.007.
1. Introduction: Current Status of Osteo­ Surgical methodologies aimed at cartilage healing, such
chondral Tissue Bioprinting as microfracture, grafting and autologous chondrocyte
implantation, are often complicated, costly or yield
amage to the articular surface in the form of unsatisfactory results in the long-term, especially in the
localized cartilage erosion is usually observed elderly population, eventually needing joint replacement
Din relation to joint degenerative disease(s) such to restore normal function [5–8] . To this end, regenerative
[1]
as osteoarthritis (OA) or trauma . Post-traumatic OA is
particularly significant, since it affects a demographic medicine that aims to repair, regenerate and improve
that is considered too young for joint replacements. As functionality of injured/diseased tissues holds great po-
such, OA is one of the major chronic conditions plaguing tential in osteochondral therapy, which involves both the
our society, causing considerable pain and debilitation, cartilage and bone and has generated significant interest.
affecting an estimated 21 million people with an However, challenges still exist in achieving this goal of
economic burden of $89.1 billion annually in the US [2–4] . engineering tissue structures that can closely mimic the

Bioprinting of osteochondral tissues: A perspective on current gaps and future trends. © 2017 Pallab Datta, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),
permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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