The Knee Learning Resource
A technique of cartilage repair using the patient's own cells.
In Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) the patient’s own (autologous) cartilage cells (chondrocytes) are used to repair the articular cartilage damage in the knee joint.
Cartilage cells are first removed for laboratory culture via an arthroscopic biopsy, in which a small sample is harvested. The cartilage sample is then cultured in a laboratory over a period of several weeks to increase the number of cells from a few hundred thousand to over 10 million. This increased volume of cells is then 'seeded' onto a membrane and shipped back to the surgeon for the second stage of the process when the membrane is implanted into the defect in the knee.
During this second procedure, the surgeon cleans up the damaged area, and fixes the membrane with its seeded cells into the defect. Over time the cells combine into a matrix to restore cartilage cover to the defect.
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