A Dual-Frequency Loading Device for Tissue Engineering Cartilage

Cartilage degradation or defects cause joint pain, activity obstacles, or even completely losing the joint function. At present, using many new technologies and methods for treatment clinically, but it only relieves the patients of pain. The development of cartilage tissue engineering is becoming an ideal way of permanently repairing tissue defects. Mechanical factors play a major role during the cartilage growing and developping. Currently, a variety of mechanical conditions are applied to cartilage bioreactors, such as Fluid shear stress, Liquid Pressure, Direct compression etc., or some combinations of these. But these mechanical conditions have not reflected the real mechanical environment of the cartilage. According to the biomimic principle of tissue engineering, from the mechanical characteristic of human activities, we have developed a dual-frequency loading device using in cartilage culture, adopting dual-frequency loading method.There are two frequencies and corresponding amplitudes working on the building cartilage at any time, and it achieves that low-frequency high-amplitude coupling high-frequency low-amplitude loads acting on artificial cartilage constructions, that is, under dual-frequency dynamic loading conditions. The kind of dual-frequency loading method maybe contribute to the construction of the cartilage. The structure size of the device is enough small to fit for working in the general culture box, and we will test it with biological experiment in future.