University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and College of Engineering students are developing a long-lasting treatment for meniscus tears.
Here's what you should know:
1. University of Miami Sports Medicine Institute Research Director Thomas Best, MD, and Sports Medicine Institute member Michael Baraga, MD, are leading the research project from the medical side, while College of Engineering assistant professors Francesco Travascio, PhD, and Alicia Jackson, PhD, and associate professors Fotios Andreopoulos, PhD, and Noel Ziebarth, PhD, will lead from the engineering side.
2. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases will fund the project.
3. The project will take a computationally assisted bioengineering approach to repair meniscal tear defects, Dr. Travascio said. He added, "We will develop a bioengineered scaffold — a composite structure made of synthetic and natural polymers alongside biological compounds that assists in the establishment of biological function and tissue reconstruction — for the knee."
4. The resulting structure will mimic the structure, composition, biomechanics and electro-kinetics of healthy knee tissue.
5. Dr. Best said, "This work is a great first step toward clinical trials with our patients and our goal of improving short- and long-term function and joint health."