Abstract
The growth in the popularity of tissue engineering principles in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders has been complemented greatly with research investment into tissue specific scaffolds. Biological scaffolds produced by means of decellularising native tissues have the advantage of providing the natural complex hierarchical matrix and, in doing so, replicating the specific biomechanical and biological functions of the tissue in question. Decellularisation treatments are multi-faceted, vary considerably between different processes and may involve many lengthy treatment steps. Some of these bio-processes may cause undesirable structural changes to the extracellular matrix of tissues and, by association, their mechanical properties. Thus, it is of paramount importance to ensure that the properties of the scaffolds are not affected to the extent of reducing their integration, biomechanical performance and longevity. This talk consists of a body of work detailing investigations into bio-process optimisation, sterilisation strategies and the regenerative and functional capacity of decellularised xenogeneic and allogeneic tendon, ligament and bone scaffolds. In addition, on-going work concerning advanced pre-clinical assessment, stratification of these products to particular patient populations and the importance of the manufacturing value chain in their translation will be discussed.
