Abstract
Bone-cartilage bi-phase element was constructed of native chondrocyte of beagle and P-TCP scaffold block. Assembling such a regenerative element enables to form arbitral configuration which fits the shape of large defect on joints without sacrificing other part of the body. The bone-cartilage bi-phase element was grafted in a distal femur condyle of a beagle for 2 month. The extracted femur sample including the bi-phase element was scanned by a high-resolution, micro-focus X-ray tomography to investigate the fusion process in vivo. The 3D tomography measurement showed that the hosting cancellous bone intruded into the scaffold and a part of the scaffold was replaced with the cancellous bone. Mechanical properties of grafted element was evaluated by a push-out test, indicating that scaffold was firmly fused with the cancellous bone of the host. Also, a preliminary microarray gene expression analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of X-ray radiation on the regenerative devices.
