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Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy

Regenerative medicine is at the heart of Opus Biological, with our specialists being at the forefront of regulated regenerative medicine efforts. These therapies, including mesenchymal stem cell therapy, represents a continually growing field of medicine, with the most significant advances in sports and orthopaedic medicine. Our team have utilised regenerative medicine techniques for more than ten years in elite sporting environments. The benefits of these techniques have been significant and transformative for elite athletes.

Mesenchymal stem cells are defined as multipotent adult stem cells, but what does this actually mean? Stem cells are important cells that are produced by your bone marrow and can differentiate into many types of blood cells, including both red blood cells and white blood cells. Mesenchymal stem cells are a specific branch of stem cells that are able to divide and differentiate into a number of different tissues, including bone, cartilage, muscle and fat cells, and connective tissue.

There are four stages of osteoarthritis. Firstly, we have the minor stage where there is minimal wear and tear to the joints, with little pain experienced. Then we move on to the mild stage. Here, there are more noticeable bone spurs, in addition to increased pain and stiffness after periods of inactivity. As osteoarthritis progresses to the moderate stage, the cartilage in the affected area begins to erode, causing significant inflammation and discomfort when carrying out everyday activities. The final stage of osteoarthritis, the severe stage, will cause a lot of pain, with the cartilage almost completely gone. This is where mesenchymal stem cells come in. Since the characteristic inflammatory response of this condition is caused by the loss of cartilage, mesenchymal stem cells therapy pose an opportunity to resurface this degenerated cartilage. Treatment with this method has shown promising results across several studies, demonstrating a significant pain reduction, cartilage protection, and healing.

Step 1 - Extraction

The first step of the stem cell procedure is the extraction of bone marrow stem cells. The procedure takes place in a full operating suite to ensure the most sterile conditions. You will be offered light sedation by our anaesthetic specialist, who will oversee your pain control. Your doctor will thoroughly numb the back of the pelvis and take a small bone marrow sample through a needle. This procedure is called a bone marrow aspirate.

Step 2 - Harvesting

The next step of the stem cell procedure takes place in our world class laboratory. We take the cells from the harvesting phase and use a culture technique to expand (grow) them so that we can produce over 40 million of your own mesenchymal stem cells. This phase takes a minimum of 21 days and includes screening the stem cells for any abnormality or disease.

Step 3 - Reinjection

The reinjection stage occurs typically two weeks after the lab work has been completed. This allows us to check the cells for any bacteria that may grow in that time. At Opus, we want to ensure the safest and most sterile conditions; therefore, the injection takes place in a full operating suite, and the injection is given by a specialist musculoskeletal radiologist using advanced imaging to guide the stem cells directly to the affected area.

Our Specialists

team-dr-david

Dr. David Porter

MBBS, MSc, PgDip

Dr. Porter is an internationally renowned senior football and sports medicine physician specialising in all aspects of orthobiologics.