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| Autologous Cartilage Cell Implantation | |
| For articular cartilage defects greater than two centimeters, one of the more advanced techniques for cartilage restoration is ACI (Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation). | |
| This technique originated in Sweden over ten years ago and was initially available in the U.S. in 1995. ACI was approved by the FDA in 1997 and has since been implemented at Cartilage Restoration Centers across the U.S. | |
| ACI is a two stage process. The first stage may be performed when initially assessing the knee joint arthroscopically. A small amount of the patient’s own articular cartilage is harvested. Through cell growth and culturing techniques, the cell chondrocyte number is increased from a few hundred thousand to over 10 million cells. | |
| These autologous (your own) cultured chondrocyte cells are then implanted in the knee in a second surgical procedure, under a patch which is sewn to the neighboring cartilage. As per the jello-marshmallow analogy on page 5, the chondrocyte cells (the marshmallows) represent only 1-5% of the volume of the matrix (jello). These cells must synthesize (create) matrix over several months to reestablish the articular surface. | |
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