Here are five points:
1. Alan Hinton, MD, is leading the research study, along with Frederick “Chip” LeMieux, PhD, of McNeese State University’s Harold and Pearl Dripps Department of Agricultural Sciences.
2. The purpose of Dr. Hinton’s project is to re-grow a meniscus.
3. For the procedure, the pigs are put on the operating table under anesthesia and a piece of the meniscus is removed. After the removal, human stem cells are injected into that site.
4. In the initial stage of the research with a different set of pigs, arthritis developed in some pigs just six months after meniscal surgery.
5. Dr. Hinton said the pigs will be harvested at four months, five months and six months to see if there is any re-growth of the meniscus.
More articles on orthopedics:
Orthopedic surgeon to know: Dr. Judith Baumhauer of University of Rochester Medical Center
Dr. Riccardo Gottardi presents new therapies to stop or reverse osteoarthritis progression — 3 quick notes
Orthopedic surgeon to know: Dr. Thomas Brushart of Johns Hopkins Medicine
