Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint disease worldwide, affecting more than 25% of the adult population and causing pain and progressive loss of joint function and mobility. The engineering of complex joint implants for the regeneration of joint defects necessitates the motivation of an automated manufacturing of "Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products" (ATMPs) in addition to the limited productivity of previously manual manufacturing processes. The development of such a manufacturing platform within the project "JointPromise" enables implant manufacturing with adequate productivity, precision and complexity for the production of functional osteochondral constructs.
Our solution
Translating manual production processes into protocols for automated production of progenitor cell aggregates and their subsequent maturation into microtissues forms the basis for automated cell cultivation in the manufacturing platform. By building the joint implant from articular surface cartilage and transient cartilage zones (subchondral bone portion) with potent microtissue populations, the structure and functionality of native joint tissue can be mimicked. The biomimetic implant design can be realized by combining extrusion- and laser-based 3D bioprinting techniques and integration of the microtissue populations in the bioinks used.
Project consortium
- Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas FORTH, Patras, Greece
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Aachen, Germany
- Katholieke Universiteit KU Leuven, Belgium
- Poietis, Pessac, France
- STEMCELL Technologies UK Ltd, Cambridge, England
- Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands
Project website
More detailed information about the project and the developed technologies can be found on the project homepage www.jointpromise.eu.
Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT