Craniofacial Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Cartilage tissue engineering has the opportunity to profoundly impact clinical health care solutions for craniofacial reconstruction. Current reconstructive options are limited by inadequate autologous tissue availability, donor site morbidity, the potential for immune rejection, and even extrusion of allogenic or alloplastic grafts. Tissue-engineered cartilage would provide surgeons with an invaluable alternative tissue source. Current tissue engineering strategies begin with harvesting a small biopsy specimen from a patient. The chondrocytes are then isolated, expanded in monolayer culture, transferred to three-dimensional culture, and then matured in a dynamic culture apparatus called a bioreactor. Ultimately, the ideal tissue-engineered cartilage would be generated in shapes and sizes suited for craniofacial reconstruction, and would resemble native tissue in terms of its biochemical and structural properties. In this chapter, the process and state of the art of cartilage tissue engineering are described, as are the future challenges and opportunities within the field.