Migration and remodeling in cartilage replacement materials – an in‐vitro bioreactor study

Abstract This article presents a bioreactor study that investigates the influence of mechanical stimulation on cell migration in a cartilage replacement material. The bioreactor has been designed to carry out dynamic stimulation of cell‐seeded scaffolds, and it consists of a loading mechanism, a force‐measuring device, and a biocompatible chamber. The stimulation of the samples was carried out inside a bioreactor chamber, which simulates physiological conditions that are found in vivo . Cell migration was determined using two collagen scaffolds, a part that mimics native tissue and a second cell‐free implant. The two parts were positioned in direct contact with each other, and the samples were then subjected to cyclic compression loading for a two‐week time frame. We determined the cell viability, the number of migrated cells, and the migration depth into the initially cell‐free part of the specimen. The results from the dynamic loading were compared with an unloaded control sample. The cell migration effect was determined for different collagen concentrations, which allowed us to observe the relationship between the collagen content and cellular activity. The present results were compared to results from the literature.