World’s first stem cell bandage

(This is for all you sports enthusiasts out there…)

A pioneering stem cell bandage, believed to be the world’s first adult stem cell treatment designed to heal torn meniscal cartilage, has been approved for human clinical trials.

This cell Bandage is seen as an alternative to the common treatment of surgical removal of the meniscus (meniscectomy), a procedure that 1.7 million people around the world undergo per year. This procedure often results in the early onset of osteoarthritis, leading to further joint surgery including total knee replacement.

The Cell Bandage has shown great promise for the healing of meniscal tears. It´s grown from the patient’s own stem cells and is trasplanted in the patient’s knee joint within two weeks of extracting the stem cells from bone marrow.

The treatment process begins with bone marrow being extracted from the patient's hip, using a needle. Stem cells are then grown from that bone marrow in a laboratory, and seeded onto a special membrane. That membrane is subsequently inserted into the tear, and the cartilage is sewn up around it to hold it in place. The idea is that the stem cells will proceed to become cartilage cells, and speed the regrowth of what might have otherwise been an unsalvageable meniscus.

 

The effective repair of meniscal tears would represent a significant advance in treatment, particularly for younger patients and athletes.