Knee A to Z

Cartilage is a shiny white material found in parts of the respiratory tract, the ear and at the ends of articulating bones. The common term would be 'gristle', like the gristle at the end of a chicken bone.

The cartilage autograft implantation system (CAIS) involves a single surgical treatment of damaged knee cartilage using the patient's own cartilage taken from another part of the knee.

Cartilage damage may include softening of the shiny white gristle covering the ends of a joint or it may progress to total destruction and leave the end of the bone bare.

Cartilage fibrillation is an advanced stage of articular cartilage damage, when the normally resilient material breaks down in feathery strands revealing the underneath bone. Page updated May 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)

A cartilage graft is a transplant of a piece of joint cartilage into a prepared recipient area where cartilage had been damaged.

Cartilagenous means 'of cartilage'.

Cartilage Repair involves various surgical techniques to restore damaged joint or articular cartilage in an effort to prevent progression to osteoarthritis. Page updated July 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)

Cartilage resurfacing is the method of replacing an area of damaged joint cartilage with a shallow implant, which can be cell-based (eg ACI) or a resurfacing implant such as the Hemicap.

Cartilages (or 'knee cartilages' or 'meniscus cartilages' or 'semi-lunar cartilages') are old-fashioned words for the menisci of the knee.

Cartilage tissue engineering includes those laboratory processes that allow the expansion of cartilage for use in replacing damaged joint cartilage.