Early Stage Regenerative Remediation of hip OA by novel curvilinear arthroscopy

Early stage osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee and shoulder can be treated using Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), with such techniques having become widely adopted. In contrast, treatment of the OA in the hip is far more difficult as the joint is deep in the body and spherical. Variance between patients and the stiffness of the hip joint capsule and muscles makes access into and around the hip space very difficult because current arthroscopes are too large and operate with a 'line-of-sight'. Consequently, hip arthroscopy remains limited with low adoption. Our project seeks to overcome current limitations and develop a platform for 'ultra' MIS equipment that is both small and curvilinear, to enable complete access to hip lesions that are currently 'out-of-reach'. We seek to develop two prototype MIS tools. One that can accurately prepare the lesions to remove diseased cartilage and reveal the healthy bone below, and another to deliver new generative medicinal products into the target site.