Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a surgical procedure involving the injection of a person's own cultured joint cartilage cells back into a prepared defect in the cartilage.
![cells being cultured in a petri dish](/sites/default/files/users/user1/petri-dish.png)
In one operation (eg arthroscopy) a bit of healthy cartilage is removed. The matrix is broken down in the laboratory and the chondrocytes (cartilage cells) are multiplied.
![ACI](/sites/default/files/users/user1/aci.jpg)
The defect is cleaned up and then the chondrocytes are then injected behind a membrane that is sewn onto the defect
The two-stage procedure of ACI
This is known as a two-stage procedure, because the surgeon needs one procedure to harvest some healthy cartilage from a less important area and send the sample to a laboratory for culture (where they are multiplied and make many cells), and then there is a second procedure to implant the expanded cells into the damaged area to grow into healthy cartilage.
Synonyms:
ACI
ACT
Autologous chondrocyte transplantation
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