Knee pain, climbing stairs feels like climbing a mountain, going down stairs feels like stepping on a needle? This minimally invasive technique has been approved!

My knee hurts. Going up the stairs feels like climbing a mountain, and going down the stairs feels like stepping on a needle.

You may have heard of knee osteoarthritis - a common disease that affects nearly 375 million people worldwide. Although there are currently various treatment methods, such as physical therapy, drug therapy and injection therapy, these methods often only offer short-term relief and cannot fundamentally solve the problem. For those patients who are not yet willing or unable to undergo total knee replacement surgery, the options are very limited.

Many people are caught in a dilemma between painkillers, physical therapy and joint replacement, either treating the symptoms but not the root cause or being reluctant to undergo surgery. But recently, Europe has quietly opened a new window: Embozene microspheres, a subsidiary of Siemens Healthineers, have officially obtained the CE marking, becoming the first minimally invasive embolizing agent in Europe specifically used for knee artery embolization (GAE).

This means that a therapy for "starving inflammation" can finally be implemented in compliance with regulations in Europe.

What is GAE? Why is it said to be a "precise food shortage"?

The pain of knee osteoarthritis largely stems from the "vicious cycle" of chronic inflammation within the joint. Inflamed tissues need blood to transport nutrients in order to keep causing trouble. The core concept of GAE is to cut off the "supply line" of inflammation.

The doctor will puncture the artery at the root of the patient's thigh and insert a catheter as thin as a noodle. Under the guidance of X-rays, it will precisely "navigate" to the small blood vessels around the knee joint. Subsequently, Embozene microspheres were injected.

The diameter of these microspheres has been precisely calibrated, resembling countless "small plugs" that block the small blood vessels supplying blood to the inflamed area, causing the inflamed tissue to "run out of food" and gradually atrophy, thereby alleviating the pain.

The approval of Embozene microspheres this time is equivalent to providing European doctors with the "standard ammunition" for GAE therapy, filling the gap in the field of minimally invasive treatment for knee osteoarthritis.

What is knee artery embolization (GAE)?

Knee artery embolization (GAE) is an emerging minimally invasive treatment method, aiming to reduce inflammatory responses by blocking the small blood vessels supplying the inflamed area of the knee joint, thereby achieving the effect of pain relief.

The specific operation steps are as follows

• Catheter insertion: The doctor will insert a slender catheter into the patient's femoral artery through a small incision.

  Targeted delivery: The catheter moves along the artery until it reaches the blood vessels near the knee joint.

• Microsphere injection: Through a catheter, the doctor will inject Embozene microspheres into the target blood vessels. These microspheres will gradually block the blood vessels and prevent blood from flowing to the inflamed area.

• Postoperative recovery: The entire process is usually completed under local anesthesia, and the patient can be discharged on the same day and resume normal activities.

Does it sound a bit like "blocking a water pipe"? Yes, GAE achieves the purpose of pain relief by "blocking" the blood vessels that supply the inflamed area, reducing the inflammatory response.

Is Embozene microsphere a "precise strike"?

The most outstanding feature of Embozene microspheres lies in their precise calibration characteristics. Each microsphere is of very consistent size and shape, capable of precisely blocking the target blood vessels without causing damage to the surrounding normal tissues.

This is extremely important because traditional embolic agents often have the problem of uneven size, which may accidentally damage other blood vessels that do not need to be blocked, leading to unnecessary complications. The Embozene microspheres, through high-precision manufacturing processes, ensure that each microsphere can accurately reach its designated position and achieve the best effect.

In addition, Embozene microspheres have been widely applied in the treatment of other diseases in many countries and regions, such as tumors, uterine fibroids and benign prostatic hyperplasia. These successful application cases have demonstrated its safety and effectiveness, laying a solid foundation for its application in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

Embozene microspheres are not only "knee-specific", but also "battle-hardened".

Although GAE is a new technology in the field of knee arthritis, the Embozene microspheres themselves are not "newcomers". It has been launched in over 60 countries around the world and is used to embolize excessive blood vessels, tumors, uterine fibroids, benign prostatic hyperplasia and other diseases, accumulating a large amount of safety and efficacy data.

It is worth noting that as early as 2021, the US FDA awarded GAE the title of "Breakthrough Device" for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, accelerating its approval process in the United States. This approval in Europe can be regarded as a successive recognition of the potential of GAE technology by the global mainstream regulatory system.

Where does GAE stand in the therapeutic ladder?

At present, the treatment of knee osteoarthritis is roughly divided into three steps:

• Basic stage: Painkillers, physical therapy, intra-articular injections (such as sodium hyaluronate, hormones). These methods can temporarily relieve symptoms, but they are difficult to stop the progression of the disease.

• Transitional stage: The key position of GAE. It goes deeper than basic treatment and directly targets the source of inflammation. It is also less invasive than joint replacement (with only one puncture point), recovers faster and can preserve the patient's own joint. It is particularly suitable for patients who have not responded to conservative treatment but do not want or cannot replace their joints immediately.

• Ultimate stage: Total knee arthroplasty. The effect is clear, but it is a major operation with a long recovery period and there is a problem with the service life of the prosthesis.

Domestic and International comparison: How far has GAE come?

This approval by Europe represents a breakthrough from nothing to something, opening the door to the standardized application of GAE.

The United States is in the "breakthrough device" acceleration track and has not yet been officially launched on the market, but the regulatory attitude is positive.

GAE in China is still a cutting-edge exploratory technology. Clinical research has only been conducted in a few hospitals and has not yet entered routine clinical practice. However, the number of patients with knee arthritis is large and the demand is clear. If the technology is mature and the cost is controllable in the future, the market potential will be huge.

The advancement of medicine is sometimes not like a disruptive revolution, but more like a precise "frequency modulation". GAE attempts to regulate the "inflammation" inside the knee joint through minimally invasive methods instead of directly replacing it.

For millions of patients seeking a way out in pain, each such "frequency adjustment" may mean a significant improvement in their quality of life. And the approval of the regulatory authorities is precisely the first step to bring this glimmer of light into reality.

Note: The above content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. The relevant interpretations of official policies in this article only represent the views of this platform. The content is subject to official documents.