Hip - Existing Treatments

As with the knee, the hip is treated with a variety of arthroscopic and arthroplasty procedures. For the most part, these treatments are the same as the treatments described for the knee. The most significant difference, however, lies in the fact that a much higher percentage of hip treatments involve a total joint replacement or a partial (hemi) joint replacement. This difference, the Company believes, stems from two factors: the greater difficulty gaining access to the inner surfaces of the hip joint and the minimal benefit experienced from many of the non-prosthetic treatments. A number of hip procedures are in fact so-called "hemis." In these cases, only the ball of the hip is replaced while the natural socket (acetabulum) is maintained.

Marrow Stimulation Techniques

Core Decompression
In core decompression, an approach is taken from the underside of the defect.  The goal being to remove a cylinder of dead (necrotic) bone from underneath the cartilage before it collapses and replace it with a cylinder of new bone that has been grafted from elsewhere.   The hope is that this new cylinder will incorporate to the underlying bone and prevent the good cartilage from collapsing and eliminate the pain.

HemiCAP^® Resurfacing

Hemiarthroplasty is the replacement of only one articular surface of a joint which means only a small amount of diseased tissue is being removed.

The HemiCAP implant is a rounded, cap-like implant made from a cobalt chrome alloy with a central post on the implanted, or bone side. Cobalt chrome is a material that has been used in total joint reconstruction devices for over two decades. It has proven to provide a safe, effective and strong weight-bearing surface in joints. The HemiCAP system precisely aligns the surface of the implant to the contours of the patient's articular cartilage surface, thus filling the defect and restores a smooth and continuous articulating surface.

Arthrosurface believes that the HemiCAP implant will offer the following clinical advantages:

• Relief from current pain and swelling
• Return to normal activity with rapid recovery time
• Restoration of a smooth, continuous, articulating load-bearing surface.
• A simple and reproducible outpatient/ambulatory surgical proced