Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, ad-free right now.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

Hello and welcome to The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, and this is a special episode of the Exert.

Approximately 800,000 knee replacement surgeries have performed each year in the U.S.

First pioneered back in 1968.

It was a medical breakthrough for patients who were living with chronic pain

and were unable to do their normal activities.

But having

a total knee replacement is also an invasive procedure, often involving a several days long stay

in the hospital, followed by six months to a year of physical therapy. But what if there's another

road to knee recovery, a less invasive one, with a faster route to getting back to doing the things you love.

Cardi heel implants made from coral exoskeletons may just be the magic bullet for thousands whose knees are only partially damaged.

Joining us now to discuss these new treatment options is Dr. Cassandra Lee, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist

at UC Davis. Thanks for joining me, Dr. Lee. Thank you for having me. Tell me about this

cardi heel or coral implant. What is it really and how does it work? I think for you to really

understand how the cardio implant works is let's go back to what

arthritis and cartilage is.

So articular cartilage is that white pearly stuff that covers the end of your bones.

It's what allows our joints to move very smoothly and allows us to, you know, jump, run, do anything

active that we want to do.

...