Need a new hip? Someday you may grow your own (USAToday)
In a decade or so, people now clamoring for metal and ceramic replacement joints may instead be able to have a fully functional biological replacement -- a joint grown within their own bodies to their specific physiology.
To date, researchers have successfully grown replacement shoulder joints in rabbits, using an implanted biological "scaffold" upon which new cartilage developed, according to a study reported in The Lancet.
"It's definitely a major step forward," said Dr. Thomas A. Einhorn, chairman of orthopaedic surgery and a ...
