Several surgical procedures are used to deal with cartilage repair, but none of them result in completely healthy articular tissue. In 1994, a group of Swedish scientists, led by Dr. Peterson, introduced a new method for treating damaged articular cartilage – the autologous implantation of ‘in vitro’ cultivated chondrocytes. This was a revolutionary new procedure in which damaged tissue is regenerated with autologous tissue that has undergone cultivation ‘in vitro’ in the laboratory. This new technique is one of the most important orthopaedic achievements of this century.
Using arthroscopy, a specimen of healthy cartilage is taken from an unburdened articular surface of a patient who has damaged cartilage in the knee joint. Chondrocytes are then isolated and cultivated under strict aseptic laboratory conditions in accordance with the standards for current Good Tissue practice (cGTP) and the relevant European regulation (23/2004/EC). Once the cells have multiplied sufficiently (usually after 4-5 weeks), a graft (a suspension of chondrocytes or chondrocytes on a collagen or alginate-agarose based scaffold) is implanted into the lesion, under a "patch" of collagen membrane. Following rehabilitation, the joint regenerates completely.
Our products are marketed under the brand name ChondroArt™. The development of our first product ChondroArt™ 1D started in 1997. This product constitutes a unique procedure for ‘ex-vivo’ propagation and subsequent implantation of autologous chondrocytes for the treatment of lesions in articular cartilage. ChondroArt™ 1D is comparable to the procedure performed by Dr. Peterson in 1994.
The next generation product ChondroArt™ 2D was released in 1999. It involves cultivating chondrocytes on a collagen based scaffold, enabling easier manipulation during implantation.