SakuraBead for Knee Osteoarthritis

Current Osteoarthritis Care

Knee Osteoarthritis patients currently have very poor treatment options. Given the progressive nature of the disease, patients inevitably become resistant to multiple pharmaceutical interventions leading to a daily battle with constant pain.

Developing a Better Alternative Treatment

Knee Osteoarthritis leads to a terrible quality of life with patients reporting chronic pain for an average of 13 years from clinical diagnosis to the almost inevitable knee replacement. As a consequence of the chronic pain and reduced mobility the disease has a very significant societal burden estimated to be 1.5% of GDP in developed nations.

Knee Osteoarthritis now increasingly affects a younger patient population (45-65 years), leaving them in chronic pain, forcing them out of the workforce and increasing the likelihood of other  medical issues. 

Up until now patients have had no option but to give in and accept that knee pain is an inevitable part of the aging process, at CrannMed we want to help change this and restore people to healthy living.

SakuraBead is not currently approved in the United States or European Union.

How does SakuraBead Work?

Knee Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the proliferation of neo-vessels and associated ingrowth of nerve endings in the tissue surrounding the site of knee pain.

Specifically formulated SakuraBead microspheres are delivered through a microcatheter to the site of inflammation within the knee. Targeted short term embolization of the neo-vessels has been shown to interrupt the mechanism of inflammation and dramatically reduce pain.

Critically, with SakuraBead, any inadvertent embolization of native vessels has no negative effect on the surrounding tissue. This is characterized by histology images (figure 1) which show excellent and complete packing of a native vessel leading to an effective embolization.

Partial regeneration of native tissue function is then observed within 48 hours (figure 2). Within 5 days of microsphere degradation, full native tissue function is restored while the neo-vessels remain deactivated.

Resorbable Materials for Future Interventions

Uniquely, our technology works directly on the inflammatory mechanism of osteoarthritic degradation.

SakuraBead will not impede any future alternative therapies – the use of resorbable materials ensures that reintervention, current treatments or even surgery remain viable options.

Learn More About The Technology