Surgeons use nose cells to repair knee joints

Joint conditions in the knee often begin with damage to articular cartilage -- the tissue at the end of a bone that cushions the joint. This cartilage is necessary for pain-free movement. Unfortunately, cartilage lacks its own blood supply, so it has very little ability to repair itself once damaged.
Since 2001, Martin and his team have been investigating a new surgical approach to repairing knees. It uses engineered cartilage tissue grown from patients' own cells, taken from the nasal septum. (Read more)