by Chris DeFrancesco for UConn Today

A bioengineered matrix for treatment of torn anterior cruciate ligaments invented by a UConn Health Center physician-scientist is now patented in the United States.

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, founding director of the UConn Health Center’s Institute for Regenerative Engineering, and University Professor at UConn is the inventor of the L-C Ligament, the first bioengineered matrix shown to completely regenerate ligament tissue inside the knee.

“Our large animal studies were completed over the last two years.  The technology may be a new solution for perhaps hundreds of thousands of individuals with ACL tears,” Laurencin says. “It also shows the promise that regenerative engineering can offer.”

A Phase 1 clinical trial is underway in Europe where the first patient was implanted with the L-C Ligament on June 18 by a surgical team in the Netherlands led by Dr. Kees van Egmond, a Dutch orthopaedic surgeon. In attendance at the surgery were  Dr. Robert Arciero, the UConn Health Center’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery chief of sports medicine and president-elect of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), and Dr. Robert Stanton, an AOSSM past president.

Please read the full story here.