Now McIlwraith and his team are trying to zero in on several tissue-engineering areas that could help people heal in the future. Damage to knees often results in a hole that has been worn away in the cartilage, the protective layer on the bone in the joint. The team, which includes scientists from across the country, is taking cartilage cells from young foals and growing replacement scaffolds. Those patches are transplanted into damaged areas. Growth factors .
Doctors inject a liquid substance directly into the damaged area to stimulate cartilage cell growth.
Cartilage welding . Using the same kind of radio frequency tool that shrank golfer Greg Norman's injured shoulder back into shape, the CSU team is experimenting with ways to use heat to reshape cartilage. The work in the operating rooms here looks much like what happens in hospitals across the country each day. The horses are covered with blue, sterile surgical drapes. The doctors and technicians are focused on the arthroscopic tools.