Tissue Engineering Could Yield Cure, Prevention For Osteoarthritis

Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics
Also Included In: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 15 Aug 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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It is Tammy Haut-Donahue 's quest to rid the world of osteoarthritis, which afflicts 20 million Americans. Some suffer from injury; others from the wear and tear of age.

The condition results from the degeneration of the cartilage in joints, the most troublesome being the knee. When cartilage is worn away, a painful rubbing of bone on bone occurs.

Haut-Donahue, a mechanical engineer at Michigan Technological University, believes the cure for osteoarthritis will begin with the meniscus, a little-understood buffer between the two major leg bones the femur and the tibia that meet in the knee. She endeavors to unravel its mysteries.

Artificial replacements for damaged tissue are not effective. Neither is the removal of damaged tissue. Rather, she investigates tissue engineering so the meniscus can be repaired or replaced following damage.

The science isn't there yet. "To repair the meniscus, we have to understand how the old one works."

Her inquiry, which ranges from computer modeling to working with animals, could revolutionize medicine. Most of the research in the US, she says, addresses what happens to bone and cartilage in the absence of meniscus; she wants to protect the cartilage. "Then you won't have the arthritis problem in the first place."

Michigan Technological University is a leading public research university, conducting research, developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering, forestry and environmental sciences, computing, technology, business and economics, natural and physical sciences, arts, humanities and social sciences.

Source: Michigan Technological University

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