‘Patients can grow own joints’
Raising hope for millions suffering from knee and hip problems, scientists have claimed that it would soon be possible for the patients to “grow” properly working joints inside their body using their own stem cells.
An American team, which carried out a pioneering study on rabbits, said the results could pave the way for a future where people can grow bone and cartilage inside their own bodies after damaged bones have been removed. They claimed that the joints will have a full range of movement, be able to bear weight and may even last longer than the current generation of artificial devices. That would save patients from repeat surgery after their original hip or knee replacement, which usually last 15-20 years, has worn out, they added.
“This is the first time an entire joint surface was regenerated with return of functions including-weight bearing and locomotion,” lead researcher Prof. Jeremy Mao of New York’s Columbia University was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
For their study, the researchers used a computer to help create artificial frames that were the same size and shape as rabbit hip joints. These frames were infused with a growth hormone and implanted into ten rabbits after the animals’ hip joints had been removed. Attracted by the growth hormone, the rabbits’ own stem cells went to the location of the missing joint and regenerated cartilage and bone in two separate layers.
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