title: An overview of recent patents on musculoskeletal interface tissue engineering.
abstract: Interface tissue engineering involves the development of engineered grafts that promote integration between multiple tissue types. Musculoskeletal tissue interfaces are critical to the safe and efficient transmission of mechanical forces between multiple musculoskeletal tissues, e.g., between ligament and bone tissue. However, these interfaces often do not physiologically regenerate upon injury, resulting in impaired tissue function. Therefore, interface tissue engineering approaches are considered to be particularly relevant for the structural restoration of musculoskeletal tissues interfaces. In this article, we provide an overview of the various strategies used for engineering musculoskeletal tissue interfaces with a specific focus on the recent important patents that have been issued for inventions that were specifically designed for engineering musculoskeletal interfaces as well as those that show promise to be adapted for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey , Piscataway , NJ , USA.
authors.forename: Rohit T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey , Piscataway , NJ , USA.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Browe
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey , Piscataway , NJ , USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey , Piscataway , NJ , USA.
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments; D010330:Patents as Topic; D023822:Tissue Engineering
keywords: Gradient scaffolds; interface tissue engineering; multiphase scaffolds; musculoskeletal tissue interfaces; scaffoldless tissue engineering