SWIFT: Innovative Arthroscopic Approach for Regenerative Treatment of the Hip

This exciting business-led project brings together industry and academia, with two commercial partners, JRI Orthopaedics (lead) and Salthaus, and the University of Sheffield. They will open new opportunities to treat hip diseases. Today there are treatments that can regrow the joint surface (known as regenerative medicine); these are only used in the knee because accessing the hip is surgically more difficult. Using a technology that JRI has patented, a surgeon can use a key-hole approach to access the hip; prepare the joint surface accurately (critical to final success of the treatment) and then rapidly inject the implant directly into the prepared area. This is part of a larger programme of work in which JRI is developing implants specifically for this approach as many existing implants would not survive the delivery process. This project will validate the technology and ensure that it can be manufactured at a price that makes it viable in today’s healthcare market. JRI has many years’ experience of getting regulatory approval for similar products and then taking to the clinic through a full market launch. JRI will take this to its major markets, which currently include: Europe, Brazil, Australia and China. This technology will enable treatments for hip diseases at an early-stage that will delay (or even remove) the need for total hip replacement, resulting in cartilage being regenerated or regrown rather than replaced. This will reduce costs much needed by modern health systems as well as diminishing the suffering of the individual patient.