Engineering The Knee Meniscus

The knee meniscus was once thought to be a vestigial tissue, but is now known to be instrumental in imparting stability, shock absorption, load transmission, and stress distribution within the knee joint. Unfortunately, most damage to the meniscus cannot be effectively healed by the body. Meniscus tissue engineering offers a possible solution to this problem by striving to create replacement tissue that may be implanted into a defect site. With a strong focus on structure-function relationships, this book details the essential anatomical, biochemical, and mechanical aspects of this versatile tissue and reviews current meniscus tissue engineering strategies and repair techniques. We have written this text such that undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers will find it useful as a first foray into tissue engineering, a cohesive study of the meniscus, or a reference for meniscus engineering specifications. Table of Contents: Structure-Function Relationships of the Knee Meniscus / Pathophysiology and the Need for Tissue Engineering / Tissue Engineering of the Knee Meniscus / Current Therapies and Future Directions

The knee meniscus was once thought to be a vestigial tissue, but is now known to be instrumental in imparting stability, shock absorption, load transmission, and stress distribution within the knee joint. Unfortunately, most damage to the meniscus cannot be effectively healed by the body. Meniscus tissue engineering offers a possible solution to this problem by striving to create replacement tissue that may be implanted into a defect site. With a strong focus on structure-function relationships, this book details the essential anatomical, biochemical, and mechanical aspects of this versatile tissue and reviews current meniscus tissue engineering strategies and repair techniques. We have written this text such that undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers will find it useful as a first foray into tissue engineering, a cohesive study of the meniscus, or a reference for meniscus engineering specifications. Table of Contents: Structure-Function Relationships of the Knee Meniscus / Pathophysiology and the Need for Tissue Engineering / Tissue Engineering of the Knee Meniscus / Current Therapies and Future Directions

The principal aim of this title is to provide the arthroscopic orthopaedic surgeon with a clear, concise account of the anatomy, pathology, conservative and operative surgical techniques in the management of meniscal pathology. Meniscal lesions are extremely common, and arthroscopic meniscal surgery is one of the most common orthopaedic surgical procedures performed. The art of meniscal surgery involves many steps, with ever-evolving techniques and implants. This book has been prepared during a period of widespread debate on, and evolution in, the conservative, surgical, and biological techniques for managing meniscal lesions. This text will help consolidate the current evidence to enable the development of optimal management plans for meniscal injuries.

This guide focuses on the normal meniscal mechanism, body and function. Meniscal pathology and therapy are depicted in detail, followed by a presentation of long-term experience of meniscal transplantation and a look into the future of meniscal surgery.

Thoroughly discussing the varied elements of meniscal damage and repair, Meniscal Injuries: Management and Surgical Techniques includes the insights and expertise of over 20 leading surgeons and researchers on topics ranging from meniscal anatomy, physical examination, innovative resection and repair techniques, gene therapy, and tissue regeneration. This treatise offers wisdom aimed at assessing true surgical candidates, exploring the intricacies of meniscal composition and function, an overview of meniscal scaffolds and replacements, and patient examination pearls. Also discussed in depth is cutting edge research concerning meniscal repair enhancement, nanofiber technology as a means of meniscal replacement, and biologic agents directed toward chondral protection. All the science presented will direct the sports medicine practitioner to state-of-the-art treatment aimed at knee preservation. Meniscal repair and regeneration is a rapidly evolving science - early attempts at meniscal restoration or repair resulted in short-term gains which often sacrificed long-term joint integrity. Now, the practitioner is afforded numerous means of retaining or restoring meniscal tissue. Breakthroughs in scaffold and allograft replacement, as featured herein, offer the promise of articular cartilage preservation like never before. In addition, tissue regeneration and gene therapy techniques, featured throughout, offer a glimpse into emerging technologies aimed at preserving or replacing meniscal tissue in previously considered “hopeless” cases. As such, Meniscal Injuries will be an indispensible resource to orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine practitioners interested in providing the absolute most contemporary and evidence-based care to their patients.

This issue of Clinics in Sports Medicine will provide a comprehensive review of Meniscus Injuries. Guest edited by Drs. Brett Owens and Ramin Tabaddor, this issue will discuss a number of related topics that are important to practicing clinicians. This issue is one of four selected each year by our series Consulting Editor, Dr. Mark Miller. The volume will include articles on: Meniscus Form and Function, Epidemiology of Meniscus Injury, Meniscus Repair Techniques, Meniscus Root Repair, Meniscus Ramp Lesions, Partial Meniscus Replacement, Meniscus Allograft Transplantation, Meniscus Regenerative Basic Science, Rehabilitation Following Meniscus Repair, Return to Play Following Meniscus Repair, Role of Alignment and Osteotomy in Meniscus Pathology, among others.

Reviews concepts on the biological, biochemical and biomechanical properties of the meniscus, its role in the function of the knee and the clinical management of meniscal injuries. Specialists assess the clinical experience with meniscectomy versus repair, discuss laser therapy and more.

The notion of being able to engineer complete organs has inspired an entire generation of researchers. While recent years have brought significant progress in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, the immense challenges encountered when trying to engineer an entire organ have to be acknowledged. Despite a good understanding of cell phenotypes, cellular niches and cell-to-biomaterial interactions, the formation of tissues composed of multiple cells remains highly challenging. Only a step-by-step approach will allow the future production of a living tissue construct ready for implantation and to augment organ function. In this book, expert authors present the current state of this approach. It offers a concise overview and serves as a great starting point for anyone interested in the application of tissue engineering or regenerative medicine for organ engineering. Each chapter contains a short overview including physiological and pathological changes as well as the current clinical need. The potential cell sources and suitable biomaterials for each organ type are discussed and possibilities to produce organ-like structures are illustrated. The ultimate goal is for the generated small tissues to unfold their full potential in vivo and to serve as a native tissue equivalent. By integrating and evolving, these implants will form functional tissue in-vivo. This book discusses the desired outcome by focusing on well-defined functional readouts. Each chapter addresses the status of clinical translations and closes with the discussion of current bottlenecks and an outlook for the coming years. A successful regenerative medicine approach could solve organ shortage by providing biological substitutes for clinical use - clearly, this merits a collaborative effort.