This rendering depicts stem cell cell aggregates (purple) and microgels (green, imagine the boba in boba tea but micro-scale) being injected into a knee lesion to help regenerate the cartilage to prevent osteoarthritis and improve joint pain/movement. Using cells in an aggregated form has major benefits for producing new cartilage tissue by allowing cells to directly communicate with each other. The microgels help structurally stabilize the mixture after injection by permanently bonding (crosslinking) them together with visible light. A combination of both of these granular materials produces cartilage tissue that is mechanically stiff and filled with stem cells that have turned into cartilage cells (differentiated into chondrocytes). This image was created in Cinema4D.

Publication: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202312226