Dear Mary, in contrast to pieces of bone oder osteochondral flakes, small cartilage parts will very likely not be integrated following shearing injuriesa dn refixation. If cartilage regeneration is desired techniques as 'autologous chondrocyte implantation' are necessary. Biological characteristics of cartilage from different origins, even if hyaline, show really huge differences. Best regards, Hagen.

There are two fundamental problem with what you propose. (1) Most tissues (e.g. bone, fat, muscle) are composed of cells and therefore tissue regeneration is about cell growth. Joint cartilage is only ca. 10% cells, so cartilage regeneration is not about cell growth, it is about chondrocytes creating the cartilage structure. (2) Chondrocytes are poorly nourished. Cartilage contains no blood vessels.

Because of these things, a strategy that shows promise is harvesting chondrocytes from one location, multiplying them in vitro and delivering them to the knee in e.g. a piece of 3D bioabsorbable scaffold. Ivan Martin, et al. at University of Basel have had some success doing this with chondrocytes harvested from nose cartilage (an easily accessible site).