BEACHWOOD, Ohio — It's no secret our bodies are pretty incredible machines, and they're still an incredible mystery, too.
The concept of using stem cells to heal ourselves is certainly not new, but the science is rapidly advancing.
"Just as technology continues to advance, what we do in the lab and biologically continues to advance, as well — our ability to harvest and grow your own stem cells and then help to talk to those stem cells, to have them grow cartilage or decrease inflammation, or help a ligament heal better is what we're doing right now," Dr. James Voos, chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at University Hospitals, said. "So it's remarkable to be part of, this new frontier."
For months, Voos' team has been working on utilizing stem cells to treat arthritis in the knee.
"We're currently in process with our FDA-approved clinical trial to grow your stem cells for early arthritis or cartilage injuries," he told 3News. "We've completed our phase 1 trial with remarkable results and we're looking forward to expanding that trial, and hopefully in the near future it will be available to all of our patients."
That's one example of how the future of regenerative medicine is here now.
"Even with our implants and our different ways we help a graft or a ligament heal into the body, (it) continues to harness the body's potential to heal," Voos said. "And I think that's the most important part about regenerative medicine is we've realized there's nothing better than the human body and how the human body works, and so our goal now is to harness that to really improve an athlete's outcome."