Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics, Centre for Trauma Research Ulm, Ulm University Medical Centre, Helmholtzstr. 14, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics, Centre for Trauma Research Ulm, Ulm University Medical Centre, Helmholtzstr. 14, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2018 Oct;86:314-324. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.06.041. Epub 2018 Jun 30.
Meniscal injury is typically treated surgically via partial meniscectomy, which has been shown to cause cartilage degeneration in the long-term. Consequently, research has focused on meniscal prevention and replacement. However, none of the materials or implants developed for meniscal replacement have yet achieved widespread acceptance or demonstrated conclusive chondroprotective efficacy. A redesigned silk fibroin scaffold, which already displayed promising results regarding biocompatibility and cartilage protection in a previous study, was characterised in terms of its biomechanical, structural and biological functionality to serve as a potential material for permanent partial meniscal replacement. Therefore, different quasi-static but also dynamic compression tests were performed. However, the determined compressive stiffness (0.56 ± 0.31 MPa and 0.30 ± 0.12 MPa in relaxation and creep configuration, respectively) was higher in comparison to the native meniscal tissue, which could potentially disturb permanent integration into the host tissue. Nevertheless, µ-CT analysis met the postulated requirements for partial meniscal replacement materials in terms of the microstructural parameters, like mean pore size (215.6 ± 10.9 µm) and total porosity (80.1 ± 4.3%). Additionally, the biocompatibility was reconfirmed during cell culture experiments. The current study provides comprehensive mechanical and biological data for the characterisation of this potential replacement material. Although some further optimisation of the silk fibroin scaffold may be advantageous, the silk fibroin scaffold showed sufficient biomechanical competence to support loads already in the early postoperative phase.
半月板损伤通常通过部分半月板切除术进行手术治疗，该手术已被证明会导致长期的软骨退化。因此，研究集中在半月板的预防和替代上。然而，为半月板置换而开发的材料或植入物都尚未得到广泛接受，也没有证明具有明确的软骨保护效果。一种重新设计的丝素蛋白支架，在之前的研究中已经显示出对生物相容性和软骨保护的有希望的结果，其生物力学、结构和生物学功能特征被研究，以作为永久性部分半月板置换的潜在材料。因此，进行了不同的准静态但也有动态压缩测试。然而，确定的压缩刚度（松弛和蠕变配置下分别为 0.56±0.31 MPa 和 0.30±0.12 MPa）与天然半月板组织相比更高，这可能会干扰永久性整合到宿主组织中。尽管如此，µ-CT 分析在微观结构参数方面符合部分半月板置换材料的假设要求，例如平均孔径（215.6±10.9 µm）和总孔隙率（80.1±4.3%）。此外，在细胞培养实验中再次证实了生物相容性。本研究为这种潜在替代材料的特性提供了全面的机械和生物学数据。尽管丝素蛋白支架的进一步优化可能是有利的，但丝素蛋白支架已经显示出足够的生物力学能力来在术后早期承受负荷。
