FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative Medicine is a broad definition for innovative translational research in tissue engineering and molecular biology that will enable the body to uses its own systems, sometimes with help foreign biological material, to recreate cells and rebuild tissues and organs.
What is Cell Therapy?
Cell Therapy is the use of human or animal cells to replace or repair damaged tissue. The cellular material generally consists of intact, living cells.
What is Osteoarthritis?
Known as degenerative arthritis degenerative joint disease osteoarthritis (OA) is a form of arthritis caused by inflammation, breakdown, and the eventual loss of cartilage in the joints. It is painful and is common to many animals as they age.
What are the signs of OA and how to treat OA?
Warning signs of osteoarthritis are:
• Stiffness in a joint after getting out of bed or sitting for a long time
• Swelling or tenderness in one or more joints
• A crunching feeling or the sound of bone rubbing on bone.
Osteoarthritis treatment plans can involve:
• Weight control
• Rest and joint care
• Nondrug pain relief techniques to control pain
• Complementary and alternative therapies
What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are defined by two key characteristics (1) the ability to continuously divide to generate exact copies of themselves in a process called self-renewal and (2) the ability to change into specialized cells in a process called differentiation.
Adult (Tissue) Stem Cells- An undifferentiated cell, found among somatic cells in a tissue or organ. The adult stem cell can renew itself and can differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.
How are the processed cells shipped?
The processed cells are shipped from the VetCell Therapeutics Hong Kong facility in a validated temperature controlled kit provided by VCT HK.
What is the shelf life of the cells sent for injection?
The cell product should be used within 24 hours of receipt. They have not been validated for use past 24 hours.
Where should the injections be made?
VCT’s product is a single-dose treatment that is injected directly into your pet’s joint by a trained veterinarian.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THE VETERINARIAN
Why use VCT?
A: VCT is most concerned with providing the safest and most efficacious product to treat our animal companions. We have over a decade of experience with stem cell research and our goal is become the world leader in animal regenerative therapies.
- Pioneer in the field of regenerative medicine with years of experience with a variety of stem cells
- Fully equipped research labs to conduct stem cell research for the purpose of developing innovative treatment protocols
- Dedicated R&D team with years of research and clinical experience
- Patented technologies
What are adipose derived stem cells?
Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are present in adipose tissue at approximately 3-5%. These are potent cells that are able to differentiate into cartilage, bone and fat cells.
When can we expect to see results in our patients?
Some patients can have immediate relief within days of the procedure due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the MSCs. Over time it is thought that inflammation remains reduced and the cells may have the ability to regenerate damaged cartilage. The clinical effects may last long term, but cartilage regeneration may take 2-6 months.
Do you offer training on the procedures?
Yes, we will offer scheduled training sessions. We also have an online training course with video instruction.
Is there any risk involved with the procedures?
There is always a risk with any procedure and with anesthesia, but there have been no reported major adverse reactions with this treatment.
Are there any cases you would not recommend to undergo this treatment?
Any patient that has known or suspected cancer, that is clinically unwell with other known disease, or that has an injury that would benefit from orthopedic surgery. Although intraarticular cell therapy may be used in conjunction with orthopedic surgery, the surgical fixation must take priority in order to stabilize the patient first.