Orthopedic surgeon at San Diego-based Grossmont Hospital Scott A. Hacker, MD, treated the first four patients in the west coast with medical device company CartiHeal's Agili-C cartilage regeneration implant.
Four things to know:
1. The patients participated in CartiHeal's FDA investigational device exemption randomized and controlled study, which seeks to show superiority of the Agili-C implant over the current standard of care — microfracture and debridement.
2. The Agili-C implant is designed to help patients with knee-cartilage defects to regenerate their own healthy cartilage and its underlying subchondral bone.
3. The cell-free implant is CE marked for use in cartilage and osteochondral defects and was implanted in over 400 patients with knee, ankle and toe cartilage lesions in a series of trials in Europe and Israel. Agili-C is not yet available for sale in the U.S.
4. Dr. Hacker is one of 15 principal investigators in the U.S. participating in the study. He is board-certified and fellowship-trained in knee and shoulder surgery in the treatment of sports related injuries and is the current orthopedic surgeon for the United States Olympic Team.