Articular and Artificial Cartilage, Characteristics, Properties and Testing Approaches—A Review

The design and manufacture of artificial tissue for knee joints have been highlighted recently among researchers which necessitates an apt approach for its assessment. Even though most re-searches have focused on specific mechanical or tribological tests, other aspects have remained underexplored. In this review, elemental keys for design and testing artificial cartilage are dis-cussed and advanced methods addressed. Articular cartilage structure, its compositions in load-bearing and tribological properties of hydrogels, mechanical properties, test approaches and wear mechanisms are discussed. Bilayer hydrogels as a niche in tissue artificialization are presented, and recent gaps are assessed.

3D printing of a poly(vinyl alcohol)-based nano-composite hydrogel as an artificial cartilage replacement and the improvement mechanism of printing accuracy

A PVA-based composite hydrogel with a biomimetic gradient structure as an artificial cartilage replacement was constructed by an extrusion 3D printing technique.