I-Corps: Improving Performance of Osteochondral Grafts for Cartilage Repair

膝关节和其他关节的损伤通常会导致缓冲关节的软骨组织受损和缺陷，并导致明显的疼痛，减少患者的活动。传统的手术治疗软骨损伤不能为患者提供长期有效的结果。这意味着，在最初的治疗之后，将需要进行后续更积极的手术。最近，有一种模式发生了转变，用同种异体骨软骨移植治疗缺陷？由新鲜身体捐献的软骨和骨组织的塞子。这项技术令人兴奋，因为一旦移植物愈合，它就有能力恢复患者的软骨结构并提供机械稳定性。尽管与其他治疗方法相比，这种方法有很高的成功率，但也有几个局限性。一种是偶尔的临床失败，即同种异体骨软骨移植在骨区不能正常愈合。另一个是组织库中移植物的供应有限，因为它们的保质期很短。为了提高这些移植物的成功率和供应量，i-Corps团队的目标是实施一种清洁技术，以加强骨骼修复并延长保质期。最终，这些改进将通过改善移植物整合和增加患者获得手术的机会来提高患者的生活质量。此外，组织库将能够通过延长保质期来延长其供应，从而增加收入。这个i-Corps团队正在开发一种生物惰性清洗程序，将允许从同种异体骨软骨移植物中移除生物抑制剂，而不会对软骨造成损害。这项技术建立在当前捐赠者组织库程序的基础上，可以在将移植物分发到医院之前添加到当前的存储过程中。该团队计划在整个i-Corps计划中与整形外科医生、同种异体移植组织库、患者和其他利益相关者进行客户访谈。在i-Corps计划期间，该团队将评估商业可行性。如果这一点得到证明，下一步的开发将进一步展示技术性能，并推进商业化计划。在整个开发阶段，该团队将继续从最终用户和客户那里获得反馈，以验证该技术满足市场需求并证明其商业可行性。

Injuries to knees and other joints often cause damage and defects in the cartilage tissue cushioning joints, and significant pain, decreasing patient activity. Traditional surgical treatments for cartilage damage are not able to provide patients with long-term effective outcomes. This means that subsequent more aggressive surgeries will be required following the original treatment. More recently, there has been a paradigm shift to treat defects with an osteochondral allograft ? a plug of cartilage and bone tissue that is donated by a fresh cadaver. This technique is exciting because, once the graft is healed, it has the ability to restore the patient's cartilage structure and provide mechanical stability. Although this procedure has high success compared to alternative treatments, there are several limitations. One is occasional clinical failures where the osteochondral allograft does not heal properly in the bone region. The other is the limited supply of the grafts from tissue banks due to their short shelf-life. To improve the success and supply of these grafts, this I-Corps team aims to implement a cleansing technology to enhance bone repair and to increase shelf-life. Ultimately, these improvements will improve patient quality of life by improving graft integration and increasing patient access to the procedure. Additionally, tissue banks will be able to extend their supply through increased shelf-life, leading to increased revenue.This I-Corps team is developing a bioinert cleansing procedure that will allow for the removal of biological inhibitors from osteochondral allografts without causing damage to the cartilage. This technology builds upon current donor tissue bank procedures and can be added to the current storage process, prior to graft distribution to hospitals. The team plans to conduct customer interviews with orthopaedic surgeons, allograft tissue banks, patients, and other stakeholders throughout the I-Corps program. During the I-Corps program, the team will assess commercial viability. If this is demonstrated, the next steps of development will further demonstrate technology performance and move forward with a commercialization plan. Throughout the development phases, the team will continue to obtain feedback from end-users and customers to validate that the technology meets the market need and demonstrates commercial viability.