New and Emerging Techniques in Cartilage Repair: Other Scaffold-Based Cartilage Treatment Options

The field of cartilage repair and restoration continues to expand in interest and research, bridging the gap for individuals between palliation and reconstruction for chondral defects. Tissue engineering, specifically scaffold technology, has recently received a lot of attention in the search for an ideal cartilage procedure that is cost-effective, time efficient, and simple. Various biomaterials are being explored for an optimal scaffold design that is biocompatible, stable, reproducible, noncytotoxic, and permeable to allow ingrowth of new tissue. Early clinical and histologic results have proved to be promising, but it remains to be seen if currently available scaffolds will maintain results over time. Additionally, new developments and improvements in the technology continue to be investigated. These therapies are both cell based and non–cell based. Non–cell-based therapy holds a particular interest in this field as it favors 1-step surgery without the morbidity, necessity, or cost of a preliminary chondral biopsy prior to definitive treatment. We explore some of these new and emerging techniques in scaffold-based cartilage treatment options.