Design and validation of a bi-axial loading bioreactor for mechanical stimulation of engineered cartilage

Hydrogels and bioreactors for cartilage research and functional tissue engineering

“…Systems commonly used for studies on chondrocyte biology and cartilage tissue engineering include devices facilitating compressive loading [38,200], hydrostatic pressure [201], shear loading [202], and hybrid bioreactors incorporating multiple loading regimes [203][204][205][206][207]. Earlier studies demonstrated that moderate mechanical stimulation can improve the biosynthesis of hydrogel-encapsulated chondrocytes, forming tissues with enhanced mechanical and biomechanical properties [110,205,[207][208][209][210][211].…”

“…The working principles of some of these bioreactors involve the application of hydrostatic pressure [326,327], compressive [328,329] or shear loading [202,209], or a combination of multiple loading regimes [204,205]. The efficiency of these culture systems has been emphasized in multiple studies outlining significant improvements of the biochemical and mechanical properties of mechanically stimulated constructs.…”

“…Previously described bioreactors used for studies on chondrocyte biology and cartilage tissue engineering include system applying compressive loading [38,200], hydrostatic pressure [201], shear loading [202], and hybrid bioreactors incorporating multiple loading regimes [203][204][205][206][207]. However, most hybrid bioreactors exhibit a number of limitations such as a minor sample capacity [203,204,207], use of non autoclavable materials [204], open culture chambers [203,205,206], or inability to measure loads applied to samples [203,204,341].…”

“…However, most hybrid bioreactors exhibit a number of limitations such as a minor sample capacity [203,204,207], use of non autoclavable materials [204], open culture chambers [203,205,206], or inability to measure loads applied to samples [203,204,341]. Other design approaches did not incorporate separate culture wells.…”

“…Other design approaches did not incorporate separate culture wells. Instead, all samples are placed in the same media [204,341], posing significant limitations if the investigation of secreted factors such as cytokines and proteins from individual patient-derived samples is desired.…”