OVERVIEW

Cartilage is the remarkably tough tissue that covers the bone surfaces in our joints and permits pain-free movement by greatly reducing friction between bones and distributing stress. Unfortunately, when cartilage is damaged due to injury or disease, it has a limited capacity to heal and can lead to early arthritis. Arthritis is a major health issue that is predicted to increase as our population ages.

As such, there is considerable interest in the development of techniques to repair or reconstruct damaged joint cartilage. The implications of a successful method for cartilage repair would be great in terms of the number of patients affected and their quality of life. Importantly, in this era of escalating health care costs, successful cartilage repair would decrease the long-term costs of health care related to joint replacement and multiple revisions thereof.