Bioprinting of cartilage

Treatment of chondral injury is clinically challenging. Available chondral repair/regeneration techniques have significant shortcomings. A viable and durable tissue engineering strategy for articular cartilage repair remains an unmet need. The current research on bioprinted articular cartilage was systematically evaluated concerning scaffold-based, scaffold-free, and in situ cartilage bioprinting. The technologies, materials, and cell types used in these studies and the biological and physical properties of the created constructs have been summarized and commented. Reported studies in this chapter have demonstrated 3D bioprinting of articular cartilage to be a tissue engineering strategy that has tremendous potential translational value. The unique abilities of the varied techniques allow replication of mechanical properties and advances toward zonal differentiation. This chapter also demonstrates that bioprinting has a great capacity for clinical cartilage reconstruction and future in vivo implantation.