The focus of this book is to create a comprehensive analysis of cartilage injury and repair strategies. Twenty chapters cover proven and emerging procedures and methodologies. Readers will be able to understand the clinical problem, appropriate diagnosis, and repair strategies relevant to first line and secondary cartilage repair procedures.

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, is generally characterized by a slowly progressive degeneration of articular cartilage, particularly in the weight-bearing joints. It has a stronger prevalence in women, and its incidence increases with age. OA is a major and growing health concern in developed countries, owing to steadily increasing life expectancy and the demand for better quality of life. Because of its chronic nature and nonfatal outcome, OA affects the growing population of the elderly over an increasing time span. Moreover, despite its relatively benign character, OA is one of the most disabling diseases; it is responsible for increasing financial and social burdens in terms of medical treatments, forced inactivity, loss of mobility, and dependence. Despite a growing awareness of OA as a medical problem that has yet to reach its maximum impact on society, there is a surprising absence of effective medical treatments beyond pain control and surgery. So far, only symptom-modifying drugs are available, while there remains a major demand for disease-modifying treatments of proven clinical efficacy. This demand will hopefully be met in the future by some of the drugs that have been pressed into development and are now at different stages of clinical investigation. Nevertheless, the current lack of effective treatments reflects a still insufficient knowledge of cartilage with respect to its metabolism, interactions with other joint tissues, and causes and mechanisms (possibly of very different nature) leading to failure of its turnover.

Cartilage injuries of the knee are common, and diagnosis and treatment options have continued to evolve. This book focuses on current non-operative and surgical treatment strategies for articular cartilage injuries, highlighting the controversies and different approaches from an international perspective. This book includes information on the basic science of cartilage structure and function, expert perspectives on imaging and diagnosing, as well as work-up of athletes and patients presenting with acute or chronic cartilage injury. It also provides an evidence base for current cutting-edge cartilage repair and restoration. Written by leading experts in the field, the book, published in collaboration with ISAKOS and ICRS, is vital reading for orthopaedic and sports medicine surgeons, fellows and residents. It is also of interest to sports trainers, physiotherapists, medical students, postgraduate students, and physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists.

This work is the result of a partnership that began in 2011, when I received for the first time the invitation to be the scientific editor of a book on bone grafting, by the still little publisher known as InTech. Now six years later, InTech has grown and thrived. My respect and warm approval for the quality of the publisher's work only increased. The hyaline cartilage is a tissue that challenges tissue engineering and regenerative medicine because of its avascular nature. In the 11 chapters of this book, the reader will find texts written by researchers working on advanced topics related to basic laboratory research, as well as excellent reviews on the clinical use of currently available therapies.

Cartilage injuries in children and adolescents are increasingly observed, with roughly 20% of knee injuries in adolescents requiring surgery. In the US alone, costs of osteoarthritis (OA) are in excess of $65 billion per year (both medical costs and lost wages). Comorbidities are common with OA and are also costly to manage. Articular cartilage's low friction and high capacity to bear load makes it critical in the movement of one bone against another, and its lack of a sustained natural healing response has necessitated a plethora of therapies. Tissue engineering is an emerging technology at the threshold of translation to clinical use. Replacement cartilage can be constructed in the laboratory to recapitulate the functional requirements of native tissues. This book outlines the biomechanical and biochemical characteristics of articular cartilage in both normal and pathological states, through development and aging. It also provides a historical perspective of past and current cartilage treatments and previous tissue engineering efforts. Methods and standards for evaluating the function of engineered tissues are discussed, and current cartilage products are presented with an analysis on the United States Food and Drug Administration regulatory pathways that products must follow to market. This book was written to serve as a reference for researchers seeking to learn about articular cartilage, for undergraduate and graduate level courses, and as a compendium of articular cartilage tissue engineering design criteria. Table of Contents: Hyaline Articular Cartilage / Cartilage Aging and Pathology / In Vitro / Bioreactors / Future Directions

A comprehensive overview of the latest achievements, trends, and the current state of the art of this important and rapidly expanding field. Clearly and logically structured, the first part of the book explores the fundamentals of tissue engineering, providing a separate chapter on each of the basic topics, including biomaterials stem cells, biosensors and bioreactors. The second part then follows a more applied approach, discussing various applications of tissue engineering, such as the replacement or repairing of skins, cartilages, livers and blood vessels, to trachea, lungs and cardiac tissues, to musculoskeletal tissue engineering used for bones and ligaments as well as pancreas, kidney and neural tissue engineering for the brain. The book concludes with a look at future technological advances. An invaluable reading for entrants to the field in biomedical engineering as well as expert researchers and developers in industry.

The profound transformations occurred in our modern age have been made possible by the unique combination of new technologies. Among them, me- cine has completely changed our perception of life. Longevity has been signi- cantly extended and linked to new lifestyles. The negative impact that pathologies and ageing have always had on the quality of our life is now mitigated by the availability of treatments daily applied to many individuals worldwide. For many years, pharmacological and surgical treatments have been supported by the introduction of biomedical devices. Biomedical implants have played a key role in the development of these treatments and achieved the objective of replacing tissue and organ structures and functionalities. Gra- ally, the scientific and clinical communities have understood that replacement could be improved by materials able to interact with the tissues and to parti- pate in their metabolism and functions. This approach soon led to biomedical implants with improved clinical performances, but also to a new aspiration; rather than replacing damaged tissues and organs scientists and clinicians nowadays aim at their partial or complete regeneration. As a consequence of this ambition, the disciplines of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have recently emerged. It is the dawn of a fascinating era where scientists from various disciplines, clinicians, and industry will need to intensify their col- borative efforts to provide our society with new and affordable solutions.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes are at the forefront of research in two of the most high profile and funded scientific areas – cardiovascular research and stem cells. Mesenchymal Stem Cell Derived Exosomes provides insight into the biofunction and molecular mechanisms, practical tools for research, and a look toward the clinical applications of this exciting phenomenon which is emerging as an effective diagnostic. Primarily focused on the cardiovascular applications where there have been the greatest advancements toward the clinic, this is the first compendium for clinical and biomedical researchers who are interested in integrating MSC-derived exosomes as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. - Introduces the MSC-exosome mediated cell-cell communication - Covers the major functional benefits in current MSC-derived exosome studies - Discusses strategies for the use of MSC-derived exosomes in cardiovascular therapies

This book highlights the latest, cutting-edge advances in implantable biomaterials. It brings together a class of advanced biomaterials in two highly active research areas, namely implants and tissue scaffolds, to underline their respective functional requirements for further development. It is unique in providing a full range of methodological procedures, including materials syntheses, characterisation, cellular tests and mathematical modelling. Covering metallic, ceramic, polymeric and composite materials commonly used in biological applications and clinical therapeutics, it is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to further their understanding of the latest developments in implantable biomaterials. Focusing on biomedical applications in implants and scaffolds, it provides methodological guides to this rapidly growing field. Qing Li and Yiu-Wing Mai are both professors at the University of Sydney, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.

This book presents regenerative strategies for the treatment of knee joint disabilities. The book is composed of four main sections totaling 19 chapters which review the current knowledge on the clinical management and preclinical regenerative strategies. It examines the role of different natural-based biomaterials as scaffolds and implants for addressing different tissue lesions in the knee joint. Section one provides an updated and comprehensive discussion on articular cartilage tissue regeneration. Section two focuses on the important contributions for bone and osteochondral tissue engineering. Section three overview the recent advances on meniscus repair/regeneration strategies. Finally, section four further discusses the current strategies for treatment of ligament lesions. Each chapter is prepared by world know expert on their fields, so we do firmly believe that the proposed book will be a reference in the area of biomaterials for regenerative medicine.