Nano technology to lower joint treatment costs

Central News Agency
Page 3
2009-10-14 12:11 AM

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A National Chung Cheng University (CCU) research program has created a technique of using micro-nano testing to detect aging knee joints in the early stage in an effort to reduce the high cost and medical burden of treating osteoarthritis (OA) , a degenerative joint disease.

With the new invention, physicians will be able to identify the source of the chronic disease and perform treatment at its early and moderate stage using minimally invasive procedures.

Thanks to this, the more invasive procedure of replacement arthroplasty can be limited, according to a CCU statement.

Citing statistics released by the Bureau of National Health Insurance in 2002, the university pointed out that the cost of prescribing non-steroid anti-inflammation drugs for patients suffering from osteoarthritis reached NT$2.3 billion (US$71.23 million) a year.

Apart from that, there were nearly 12,000 osteoarthritis patients who underwent surgery to have their bad knee joints replaced with artificial ones every year. The cost of the medical treatment amounted to NT$1.7 billion, the statistics showed.

In total, the country spent NT$4 billion a year in treating the disease, the statement said.

In cooperation with the Joint Center of Buddhist Tzu Chi Dalin General Hospital in Chiayi County, CCU researchers found that most OA cases could be easily controlled with a cheaper minimally invasive procedure, CCU said.

According to the statement, the research program combined major outbreaks of two sub-research projects, with the first one conducted by a research team headed by Jeng Yeau-jen, CCU vice president and a professor at the CCU Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Jeng's team has succeeded in using a nano-indentation measurement technique to identify pathological changes of articular cartilage. As to the other project, initiated by Chau Lai-kwan, a professor at the CCU Department of Biochemistry, the researchers have used fiber-optic localized plasmon resonance sensors to measure the pathological degree of an aging knee.

With the research results, the CCU-Tzu Chi hospital joint venture has developed a comprehensive health care model for OA patients, using micro-nano scale testing measurement, computer simulation model and biochemical methods to offer improved OA-targeted treatment services and increase the recovery rate, the CCU statement said.