Cartilage Engineering in India
The US is not the center of the world, and much of the development undertaken by US research groups is also underway elsewhere. For example: "A neocartilage developed by the Biological Sciences and Bio-Engineering Department of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) may someday prove a boon for patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knees. So far, the only recourse for such patients were knee transplantation and regeneration of cells through cell therapy and stem cell technology. For the last four years, Professor of Bio-engineering Ashok Kumar [has] been working on the neocartilage project. After successfully trying it on mice, the team is now looking forward to test it on bigger animals. For testing it on humans, the IIT-K is in discussion with a few government hospitals in Lucknow and Kanpur. ... The cells are grown on a polymer matrix, which provide a suitable microenvironment for them to develop into tissues. During physical and bio-chemical tests it has exhibited natural cartilage properties. ... After the successful experiments, we are now in a condition to replace the whole or a small part of a damaged cartilage."