Stem Cell Era - Novel Knee Repair (part 1)
An experimental procedure to repair knee cartilage using Stem Cells has brought relief to 35 people here in last three years.
Now, Dr Kevin Lee from the division of adult reconstructive surgery at the National University Hospital, hopes to test into 100 patients over the next two years to see if it is better than current methods. His method marries two techniques used in other parts of the world, but with some modifications.
Dr Lee's method, a day-surgery procedure that lasts about 1 1/2 hours, involves making holes with a tiny pick, through keyhole surgery, in the bone of a patient's knee which has been worn out by overuse. This release a type of stem cell from bone marrow, which later grows into cartilage cells. At the same time, he extracts bone marrow from an area near the hip. This is done to obtain stem cells. a type of master cell which can be grown into bone, fat or cartilage.
Three weeks later, the few hundred stem cells would have grown into over 10 million adult stem cells. These are injected into the patient's knee, together with a fluid which protects the cartilage cells from damage. The stem cells are able to home in on the area where there is missing cartilage. These cells then either become cartilage cells themselves or stimulate surrounding cells to become cartilage cells. It takes few weeks for the stem cells to become cartilage cells and at least six months before the cells become mature cartilage.
Civil servant Wahida Mansor, 44, could climb the 12 storeys to her Jurong West flat several months after the procedure. The mother of three said:'In the past, after walking for few hours, my knees would swell and it would be very uncomfortable. I was unable to sleep. Now I still can't jog, but at least I can sleep and do housework because it's not painful and doesn't swell.
About 150 to 200 cartilage operations are done in Singapore a year. They are done by extracting cartilage cells, growing them in the lab and opening up the knee to transplant them.
An Orthopaedic surgeon ar Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Dr Yegappan Muthukaruppan, does about 10 such operation a year. Commenting on Dr Lee's method, he said: 'This is experimental currently, but I do believe this will be the way to go as it is minimally invasive'
Now, Dr Kevin Lee from the division of adult reconstructive surgery at the National University Hospital, hopes to test into 100 patients over the next two years to see if it is better than current methods. His method marries two techniques used in other parts of the world, but with some modifications.
Dr Lee's method, a day-surgery procedure that lasts about 1 1/2 hours, involves making holes with a tiny pick, through keyhole surgery, in the bone of a patient's knee which has been worn out by overuse. This release a type of stem cell from bone marrow, which later grows into cartilage cells. At the same time, he extracts bone marrow from an area near the hip. This is done to obtain stem cells. a type of master cell which can be grown into bone, fat or cartilage.
Three weeks later, the few hundred stem cells would have grown into over 10 million adult stem cells. These are injected into the patient's knee, together with a fluid which protects the cartilage cells from damage. The stem cells are able to home in on the area where there is missing cartilage. These cells then either become cartilage cells themselves or stimulate surrounding cells to become cartilage cells. It takes few weeks for the stem cells to become cartilage cells and at least six months before the cells become mature cartilage.
Civil servant Wahida Mansor, 44, could climb the 12 storeys to her Jurong West flat several months after the procedure. The mother of three said:'In the past, after walking for few hours, my knees would swell and it would be very uncomfortable. I was unable to sleep. Now I still can't jog, but at least I can sleep and do housework because it's not painful and doesn't swell.
About 150 to 200 cartilage operations are done in Singapore a year. They are done by extracting cartilage cells, growing them in the lab and opening up the knee to transplant them.
An Orthopaedic surgeon ar Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Dr Yegappan Muthukaruppan, does about 10 such operation a year. Commenting on Dr Lee's method, he said: 'This is experimental currently, but I do believe this will be the way to go as it is minimally invasive'
