The newest implant out there on the market is called Cartiva. It is a hemiarthroplasty, meaning basically we just resurface one side of the joint. The implant itself is a synthetic cartilage. It is made of a material called polyvinyl alcohol, which is a hydrogel, which means that it has the same water consistency as cartilage does and it provides shock absorption for long-term durability of the implant.
The Cartiva implant showed the exact same pain scores, the exact same functional scores. Only the implants were able to still move their joints, which was huge. People do not like having that joint fused. Besides that, the implants also had the same safety profile. There was only a 9% risk of having a re-operation, so a conversion from the Cartiva implant to a fusion procedure. That was the same as if you would have a fusion procedure anymore, there was a same re-operation rate. I consider that a big success for the implant.
