New ACL surgery cuts down on recovery time

WTNH-- A bio-engineer, from the UConn Health Center, has developed another method for ACL surgery that could cut down on recovery time.

Patient, Heidi Golden tore the ACL in her right knee.

Golden said, "I hyper-extended my knee and I heard like a snap and that was it."

Four months after reconstruction surgery, Golden said, "we had a cadaver ACL. I chose to do that over the other methods available and basically he strung a new tendon between my lower leg bone and upper leg one."

She is on the tough road to recovery, which can take up to a year for most patients.

Another choice, developed by bio-engineer, Dr. Cato Laurencin, at the UConn Health Center, could cut down on rehab time.

For the first time, there is a complete regeneration of ACL through tissue engineering.  It begins with a matrix
   
"We use this three dimensional hierarchical structure, that's how we designed it," said Dr. Laurencin. "It's a synthetic polymer."

That allows cells to attach and grow.

"Once it's implanted in the body, we count on the body's own healing capacity to start to work too.  So the cells that actually regenerate the ACL actually come from the joint itself," said Dr. Laurencin.   
 
So far, there are positive outcomes from animal models. The benefits for humans are promising.

Dr. Laurencin said, "we're sometimes protected of the knee because of the fact mechanical properties aren't strong enough for the ACL, but now we'll have the ability to be able to rehab the knee even faster and get the knee even moving faster."

Early next year, human trials will begin in Europe.

For more information, visit Dr. Laurencin's website.