New Implant Allows Patients to "Grow their own" Joint

Doctors have developed an implant that allows patients to ‘grow their own’ joints and avoid having replacement surgery.The implant, roughly the size and shape of a mint imperial sweet, has been designed to help replace small joints in the hands and feet.It is made from a sugar-based material which encourages the patient’s own tough fibrous tissues to form a new kind of joint, providing a cushioning barrier between the bones.

When the new joint has formed, the implant gradually breaks down and is carried away in the blood stream — it is, in effect, the world’s first biodegradable joint implant.

Research on more than 200 patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis showed that it significantly improved both movement and pain.

The common surgical treatment for joints in the hand, wrist and foot involves fusing the two bones of the joint together, but this can result in very restricted movement.

The new joint, made by Finnish researchers, is a soft porous material with a consistency similar to that of a sponge. The circular disc-like device, which comes in various sizes up to 18mm in diameter and 4.5mm thick, to fit different joints, is made from polylactide, a material manufactured from corn starch or cane sugar. 

In a 30-minute procedure, the implant is inserted into the space between the two bones of the joint, where the missing or damaged cartilage normally sits. Here, it acts as a spacer to stop the two bones rubbing against each other. Once in place, the implant — called the RegJoint — stimulates the release of the body’s natural healing cells, which travel to the joint, triggering the growth of strong, fibrous tissue.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2114008/Need-new-joint-Now-grow-own.html#ixzz1p6LFWcSn

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2114008/Need-new-joint-Now-grow-own.html#ixzz1p6KyN0YZ