Preface - Ous-research.no

Experimental Orthopaedic Research
Leader:
Lars Nordsletten, Professor, MD, PhD, Leader (OC/UiO)
Scietific staff:
Lars Engebretsen Prof MD, PhD (OC/UiO)
Olav Reikerås Prof MD, PhD, (UiO/OUH)
Jan Erik Madsen Prof MD, PhD, (OC/UiO)
Asbjørn Årøen MD, PhD (OC)
Stig Heir MD PhD-Student (Martina Hansens Hospital)
Harald Steen MD, PhD (OUH)
Per Ludvigsen MSc, Engineer (UiO/ OUH)
Sverre Løken MD, PhD (OC)
Ulf W Sigurdsen MD, PhD-Student (UIO/AHUS)
Sigbjørn Dimmen, MD, PhD (LO)
Finn Reinholt Prof MD, PhD (UiO/OUH)
Jan Brinchman Prof MD, PhD (UiO/ OUH)
Stein Erik Utvåg, MD, PhD (AHUS)
Professor Lars Nordsletten
Research area
Joint injuries, diseases and fractures are main reasons for
disability in the community and are often subjected in
younger age groups. It certainly involved large costs for the
society and improved health care in this area would be a
significant improvement both for the individual and the society.
The Experimental Orthopaedic Research group applies
experimental methods on different aspects of orthopaedics,
including research on clinical material (biopsies, joint
fluid, and retrievals), animal experiments and cell culture.
Mechanical testing of structures, including live anaesthetized
animals, and materials has been one of the main parts
of our research methods. Several of the projects worked on
during the last years were fulfilled with publication or PhD
dissertations during 2010. The experimental work in the
laboratory is close connected to ongoing or clinical studies
under planning for improvement of orthopaedic care of
these patients in the community and the involvments of
the clinicians is one of the strength in the group.
Aims
Develop a novel treatment of focal cartilage defects
Reduce the numbers of deficient fracture healing
Improve healing of tendon grafts in orthopaedic surgery
Delineate the best biomaterial surface for prothesis surgery
CARTILAGE RESEARCH
Malfunction of the knee joint is often associated with
cartilage injury. Whether healing or restoration of lost or
wounded portions of articular cartilage with newly formed
fully functional cartilage is possible remains one of the
unsolved problems in orthopaedic practice. These knee
patients have more problems than patients with rupture of
anterior cruciate ligament rupture and experience severe
limitations in their daily life. Despite this the knowledge
about the best treatment and if surgical treatment do
offer a better outcome than the natural history is still not
documented. A better understanding of articular cartilage
biology, pathophysiology and biomechanics are definitely
warranted. Focused research questions in the group, have
been to improve the understanding of the cartilage repair
process and to figure out if mesenchymal stem cells should
be used instead of chondrocytes for cartilage repair. The ongoing
work of the cartilage research group can be divided in
three main areas
Experimental cell-culturing cartilage research
The group has worked intensively providing the best cell
source for cartilage repair. Mesenchymal stem cells harvested
from the bone marrow implanted in hyaluronan-based
scaffold have been intensively studied in the laboratory
for production for production of articular hyaline cartilage
specific markers. Theoretical these cells have a promising
potential for repair of normal hyaline cartilage. The collaboration
with the Ex Vivo Laboratory (RH) headed by Jan
Brinchmann has improved our ability to be supplied with
improved cells for cell based cartilage repair and to test and
develop new scaffolds (Fig. 1).
Experimental cartilage research in an animal model
An important issue in cartilage treatment is the location of
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