Osteoarthritis is one of the fastest growing health problems around the world with over 8 million people living with the condition in the UK.
It can begin at any age in adulthood and people can have severe joint pain and stiffness, for example, in their hips and knees. They will also have great difficulty in their everyday activities, such as walking, climbing stairs or even standing.
The answer has been, for over fifty years, to replace the damaged joints with artificial joints, in the form of a joint replacement. Whilst this is an excellent solution for severe end stage osteoarthritis, it is less suited to earlier stages. At the Tissue Engineering Centre we aim to develop treatment for earlier stages of disease, to slow down progression and defer the need for a joint replacement.
Instead of replacing a joint, we are looking for innovative treatments to regenerate a patient’s damaged joint using stem cells from their own body. We want to treat people with early Osteoarthritis so that their joint, once treated, will have a better chance of lasting longer.
Working together, this team of surgeons, doctors and scientists use a unique method of research called Translational Research where the latest treatments from the laboratory are translated to patients. Through careful monitoring with the patients themselves, the team are able to develop further laboratory work. This method is then referred to as ‘Reverse Translational Research’.
Ultimately, we want these new treatments to be cost-effective and easy to administer to people living with osteoarthritis, without the need for major surgery and having to visit specialist centres.
