Autologous chondrocyte implantation or ACI is a cartilage regeneration procedure that is utilized in treatment of cartilage-deficient knee joints. You will be evaluated by your surgeon who will guide if the ACI is optimal procedure for cartilage regeneration. Once decision is made, you will be undergoing two-stage surgery. In the first stage, small piece of normal cartilage is taken from your knee through keyhole surgery. This cartilage is then sent to a lab which specialises in growing cartilage cells. Millions of new cells are then grown from the original cartilage. This process can take about 4-6 weeks after which the cells are sent to the hospital for implantation in the patient.

In the second stage, the implantation is done through either keyhole surgery or open surgery depending on individual circumstances.

There are advantages of this technique over microfracture as the cartilage that forms through this technique is of superior quality than seen with microfracture technique. It has better biomechanical strength, almost comparable to native normal cartilage.