Minced articular cartilage--basic science, surgical technique, and clinical application.

Minced articular cartilage procedures are attractive surgical approaches for repairing articular cartilage, as they are 1-staged, autologous, and inserted on a carrier that can potentially be placed arthroscopically. The principle of mincing the autologous donor cartilage is to create a larger surface area for cartilage expansion. Placement on a scaffold carrier allows for a chondro-inductive and chondro-conductive milieu. Early animal and preclinical models have demonstrated hyaline-like tissue repair. Further work needs to be conducted in this promising approach.