Use of Hydrogel in Cartilage Repair
This article discusses the use of hydrogel in repairing cartilage damage.
Healing Knees with Light-Activated Gel
Damage to cartilage, which lacks its own blood supply, is commonly treated by drilling holes into the surrounding bone and tissue (called microfracturing) in order to stimulate bleeding which helps stem cells to recolonize the damaged area. The problems with this technique are that the repair tissue often does not completely fill the damaged area and that scar tissue can form instead of cartilage. Jennifer Elisseef, a biomedical engineer, and her team from Johns Hopkins University tested a different approach to cartilage repair using a light-activated form of hydrogel, a gelatinous substance that is composed of crisscrossing polymer fibers that soak up water.
In their study, Elisseef and her team performed the standard microfracturing technique, but then poured liquid hydrogel into the torn cartilage and then shined a UV light on the gel, causing it to harden (consistency similar to real cartilage). The hydrogel, which takes the shape of any hole and hardens, provides a physical scaffold for stem cell attachment and also includes chemical and biological factors (such as chondroitin sulfate and hylaronic acid) which inhibit scar tissue formation. The results showed that 86% of the cartilage was repaired in patients who received the hydrogel treatment. This is substantially greater than the 64% repair in the control patients who received the standard treatment. Although the hydrogel shows promising results, further trials will be needed before it can be concluded that the hydrogel is a better long term option than the standard microfracturing technique.
I found this article interesting because cartilage damage is something that occurs during many athletic injuries (as well as others) and can greatly increase the recovery time as well as decrease the amount of recovery that can occur. The hydrogel technique is brilliant because it provides a scaffold which not only allows an organized surface for stem cells to base cartilage formation from, but also inhibits scar tissue growth. I can see this technique possibly revolutionizing the way cartilage repair is done.
Healing Knees with Light-Activated Gel
Damage to cartilage, which lacks its own blood supply, is commonly treated by drilling holes into the surrounding bone and tissue (called microfracturing) in order to stimulate bleeding which helps stem cells to recolonize the damaged area. The problems with this technique are that the repair tissue often does not completely fill the damaged area and that scar tissue can form instead of cartilage. Jennifer Elisseef, a biomedical engineer, and her team from Johns Hopkins University tested a different approach to cartilage repair using a light-activated form of hydrogel, a gelatinous substance that is composed of crisscrossing polymer fibers that soak up water.
In their study, Elisseef and her team performed the standard microfracturing technique, but then poured liquid hydrogel into the torn cartilage and then shined a UV light on the gel, causing it to harden (consistency similar to real cartilage). The hydrogel, which takes the shape of any hole and hardens, provides a physical scaffold for stem cell attachment and also includes chemical and biological factors (such as chondroitin sulfate and hylaronic acid) which inhibit scar tissue formation. The results showed that 86% of the cartilage was repaired in patients who received the hydrogel treatment. This is substantially greater than the 64% repair in the control patients who received the standard treatment. Although the hydrogel shows promising results, further trials will be needed before it can be concluded that the hydrogel is a better long term option than the standard microfracturing technique.
I found this article interesting because cartilage damage is something that occurs during many athletic injuries (as well as others) and can greatly increase the recovery time as well as decrease the amount of recovery that can occur. The hydrogel technique is brilliant because it provides a scaffold which not only allows an organized surface for stem cells to base cartilage formation from, but also inhibits scar tissue growth. I can see this technique possibly revolutionizing the way cartilage repair is done.
posted by Unknown at 7:28 AM
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