Preface

Joint injuries and the resultant articular cartilage defects are frequent occurrences that an orthopedic surgeon/arthroscopist faces every day. Progressive wear and tear of articular cartilage can lead to progressive cartilage tissue loss, further exposing the bony ends, leaving them without protection. This final osteochondral defect deteriorates latterly into the most common arthritis, a degenerative joint disease. Unlike other self-repairing tissues, such as bone, cartilage has a low regenerative capacity. As a consequence, once injured, cartilage is much more difficult to self-heal. The field of articular cartilage tissue engineering, which aims to repair, regenerate, and/or improve injured or diseased articular cartilage functionality, has evoked intense interest and held great potential for improving articular cartilage therapy over the last decade. This book provides an overall description of classic and current articular cartilage repair and regeneration therapies and techniques, conventional or operative. Also, it summarizes recent progress in cartilage tissue engineering, including stem cells, growth factors, bioactive molecules, and biomaterial scaffolds used for cartilage regeneration. Finally, the technical and regulatory challenges of articular cartilage tissue engineering and possible future directions are discussed.
