- Project Name*
- 3D printing Personalized Knee Implants: Novel Computational Geometric Models for Stem Cell Regeneration in Meniscus tears
- Feature Image*
- Project Information
- Big Idea
- Accessible tissue Engineering
- Essential Question
- How can an accessible meniscus implant be designed and validated computationally, biomechanically, and biologically?
- Project Description
-
Importance: The most common knee injury is a torn meniscus, affecting 65% of all adults. Currently, meniscus implants are not accessible, personalized, or representative of the physiological properties of the meniscus, resulting in poor tissue regeneration.
Design: This investigation 3D-printed novel composite implants by combining polycaprolactone-scaffolds and gelatin/chondroitin sulfate-hydrogels. The implants were personalized using patient-specific tear MRIs and latticed using computational geometry. Finite element simulations were used to optimize lattice structure under physiologically relevant knee conditions.
Applications: Overall, the novel implant is a viable regeneration option, important in sports medicine and osteoarthritis prevention.
- SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
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Goal 3: Good Health and Well Being
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Project year
- 2024