SCAFCART: Novel bioresorbable scaffolds and culture methods for cartilage tissue engineering

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 99.0291

Key words (English)

Osteochondral composites; chondrocytes; biomaterials; bioreactors;
Industrial Manufacture; Materials Technology

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: G5RD-1999-00050

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.3.8 Generic R&D activities

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: University of Sheffield (UK)

Abstract (English)

Tissue engineering approaches have been successfully applied to the treatment of injured particular cartilage.
However, problems encountered include the poor quality of regenerated tissue and difficulty in integrating engineered cartilage at the clinical site.
This RTD project takes a problem solving approach to improve significantly the quality of tissue engineered cartilage by combining optimised scaffolds with advanced culture methods. Integration at the surgical site will be achieved by generating an osteochondral construct.
The latter will also be applied to extend tissue engineering to the treatment of degenerative joint disease and facial cartilage deformity. This RTD project will set new high standards for the biological quality of engineered human tissues to ensure that the European tissue engineering industry is competitive on a world stage, improving quality of life while stimulating economic development.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 99.0291