title: Mechanical evaluation of a tissue-engineered zone of calcification in a bone-hydrogel osteochondral construct.
abstract: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that mechanical properties of artificial osteochondral constructs can be improved by a tissue-engineered zone of calcification (teZCC) at the bone-hydrogel interface. Experimental push-off tests were performed on osteochondral constructs with or without a teZCC. In parallel, a numerical model of the osteochondral defect treatment was developed and validated against experimental results. Experimental results showed that the shear strength at the bone-hydrogel interface increased by 100% with the teZCC. Numerical predictions of the osteochondral defect treatment showed that the shear stress at the bone-hydrogel interface was reduced with the teZCC. We conclude that a teZCC in osteochondral constructs can provide two improvements. First, it increases the strength of the bone-hydrogel interface and second, it reduces the stress at this interface.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory of Biomechanical Orthopedics, Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hollenstein
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terrier
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cory
authors.forename: Albert C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sah
authors.forename: Dominique P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Pioletti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D002417:Cattle; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D033081:Shear Strength; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate
keywords: calcification; interfacial tissue engineering; osteochondral defect; push-off test