Procurement of auricular elastic cartilage was conducted by careful dissection of cadaveric human ears removing the skin and underlying perichondrium. This was subsequently followed by harvesting 5 mm × 5 mm sections from the elastic ear cartilage. Specimens were then split up into assessment for GAG (glycosaminoglycans), DNA, collagen and for histological analysis with H&E, DAPI, Masson’s Trichrome, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as well as assessing for mechanical properties (n = 3). For native tissue a total of 21 samples were used. Figure 1 provides a summary of the steps involved and details of analysis time points as well as assessment criteria.Figure 1Summary of steps for cartilage harvest.