7 Healthcast: Need for knees

But a medical breakthrough could help many young people with bum knees ... put off a total knee replacement. And it's happening right here in the hub! 7's Frances Rivera has the story in tonight's health cast.

At just 31-years-old, Erin Elberson felt like she had the knees of someone three times her age.

Erin Elberson, knee patient
"I was having trouble standing up from a chair. I could not go up and down stairs."

Like many of us, Erin has enjoyed a very active lifestyle, and her knees have suffered for it.

Erin Elberson, knee patient
"The doctor said I basically had no cartilage left under my knee caps."

With little to cushion her bones, she was in constant pain.

And after several failed knee surgeries the young woman was told she would need a total knee replacement.

Erin Elberson, knee patient
"Not an optimal option considering my age and the fact that I would have needed a replacement surgery every ten years for the rest of my life."

So Erin turned to Dr. Martin Roche at Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, who's performing a cutting edge procedure that sounds like something out of a science fiction movie.

Dr. Martin Roche, Holy Cross Hospital
"We can now re-grow our own cells and re-implant them into the area of damage in our knees."

Until now, growing cartilage wasn't something doctors even thought was possible.

Dr. Martin Roche, Holy Cross Hospital
"We never thought we could grow tissue that does not have a good blood supply."

But they can, and here's how they're doing it.

During a minor surgery, Dr. Roche takes a small sample of healthy cartilage from a patient's knee.

That biopsy is then sent to a lab, near here in Boston.

Scientists there culture and grow millions of cells from that tiny sample of cartilage.

"When you start with say 200 thousand cells from a biopsy, 7 to 9 days later you could have 10 million cells."

Once the healthy cells have multiplied, they are sent back to the Hospital, where they are surgically re-implanted into the patient's knee.

Dr. Martin Roche, Holy Cross Hospital
"By injecting your own cells your body stimulates them to turn into fully formed cartilage cells."

As time goes by their cells grow inside the defect, they mature, they form a hard tissue and eventually their pain resolves.

The recovery is intensive and takes months of rehab, but patients like Erin say it's worth it.

Erin Elberson, knee patient
"I can do all my every day activities without pain, which is amazing to me."

Erin is now even competing as a fitness model.

Her need for new knees ... met by science.

Erin Elberson, knee patient
"The idea of re-growing cartilage sound space age-y but it really does work!"

This procedure is not for people with arthritis of the knees. It's only for those with knee injuries or who have suffered the normal wear and tear of their knee cartilage.

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