ACL Engineering

Current ACL replacements have many limitations that prevent their extensive use (e.g. donor availability). Because of this, extensive have been done in the area of tissue engineering to try to create new options for the repair, and regeneration of the ACL. These new options involve artificially fabricated devices that are designed to be mechanically functional tissue scaffolds, and are able to withstand normal mechanical loads. At the

same time, these scaffolds promote ligament development and regrowth in damaged area.
The ACL is a dense, highly organized, cable-like tissue composed of types I, III, and V collagen, elastin, proteoglycans, water, and cells. Ligaments are arranged in a parallel fashion along the long axis of the whole ligament with a hierarchical levels of organization. Collagen molecules, fibrils, fibril bundles, and fascicles all bundled and arranged parallel providing the ligament with its biomechanical properties.