Quantification of the compressive material properties of the meniscus is of paramount importance, creating a "gold-standard" reference for future research. The purpose of this study was to determine compressive properties in six animal models (baboon, bovine, canine, human, lapine, and porcine) at six topographical locations. It was hypothesized that topographical variation of the compressive properties would be found in each animal model and that interspecies variations would also be exhibited. To test these hypotheses, creep and recovery indentation experiments were performed on the meniscus using a creep indentation apparatus and analyzed via a finite element optimization method to determine the material properties. Results show significant intraspecies and interspecies variation in the compressive properties among the six topographical locations, with the moduli exhibiting the highest values in the anterior portion. For example, the anterior location of the human meniscus has an aggregate modulus of 160 +/- 40 kPa, whereas the central and posterior portions exhibit aggregate moduli of 100 +/- 30 kPa. Interspecies comparison of the aggregate moduli identifies the lapine anterior location having the highest value (450 +/- 120 kPa) and the human posterior location having the lowest (100 +/- 30 kPa). These baseline values of compressive properties will be of help in future meniscal repair efforts.

This review details current efforts to tissue engineer the knee meniscus successfully. The meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous tissue found within the knee joint that is responsible for shock absorption, load transmission, and stability within the knee joint. If this tissue is damaged, either through tears or degenerative processes, then deterioration of the articular cartilage can occur. Unfortunately, there is a dearth in the amount of work done to tissue engineer the meniscus when compared to other musculoskeletal tissues, such as bone. This review gives a brief overview of meniscal anatomy, biochemical properties, biomechanical properties, and wound repair techniques. The discussion centers primarily on the different components of attempting to tissue engineer the meniscus, such as scaffold materials, growth factors, animal models, and culturing conditions. Our approach for tissue engineering the meniscus is also discussed.

Quantification of the material properties of the meniscus is of paramount importance, creating a 'gold-standard' reference for future tissue engineering research. The purpose of this study was to determine the compressive and circumferential tensile properties in the rabbit meniscus. Creep and recovery indentation experiments were performed on the meniscus using a creep indentation apparatus and analysed via a finite element optimization method to determine the compressive material properties at six topographical locations. Tensile properties of samples taken circumferentially from the rabbit meniscus were also examined. Results show that the femoral side of the anterior portion exhibits the highest aggregate modulus (510 +/- 100 kPa) and shear modulus (240 +/- 40 kPa), while the lowest aggregate modulus (120 +/- 30 kPa) and shear modulus (60 +/- 20 kPa) were found on the femoral side of the posterior location. Values of 156.6 +/- 48.9 MPa for Young's modulus and of 21.6 +/- 7.0 MPa for the ultimate tensile strength of were found from the tensile samples, which are similar to the values found in other animal models. These baseline values of material properties will be of help in future tissue engineering efforts.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the compressive properties of the porcine meniscus at a variety of topographical locations using a creep indentation experiment. Three different solution techniques were used to analyse the creep response of the tissue. Specifically, the indentation stiffness, aggregate modulus, permeability, Poisson's ratio, and shear modulus were determined at six different testing locations (anterior, central, and posterior regions; femoral and tibial sides) of both the medial and lateral porcine menisci. Results indicate topographical variations among the testing locations, with the femoral-anterior portion of the medial meniscus having the highest indentation stiffness (350+/-110 kPa), aggregate modulus (270+/-90 kPa), and shear modulus (140+/-40 kPa). The tibial-posterior region of the medial meniscus exhibited the lowest indentation stiffness (170+/-40 kPa), aggregate modulus (130+/-30 kPa), and shear modulus (60+/-20 kPa). No statistical differences were found at the six tested locations of the lateral meniscus.

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