Tissue Engineering for Cartilage Repair Using Stem Cells

Cartilage repair of degenerative disease and injury to the joints using cartilage cultivation and reconstruction is a safe and effective treatment. Instead of removing damaged cartilage or replacing damaged cartilage with a prosthetic, carilage may be grown outside of the body and reintroduced to replace damaged cartilage. Cartilage degeneration in joints is a widespread problem in aging populations and is a leading contributor to other diseases, such as obesity and type II diabetes. Recent studies have shown that localized damage to cartilage can cause permanent and degenerative damage to cartilage. Cartilage cultivation, construction and engineering allows damaged cartilage to be repaired.

Now, Dr. Prasad Shasti and his colleagues report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences successfully engineering cartilage and bone in three weeks using injection of a gel into the double membrane surface of a patient’s bone. Dr. Shasti surmizes that the hypoxia in the space between the double membrane induces and stimulates bone biological generation of bone tissue and cartilage. The cartilage can be used to repair damaged cartilage and adapts well, while showing no signs of calcification even after nine months.