Pathological process of osteoarthritis (OA) starts from cartilage degeneration, and tissue engineering technology is the only way to reverse OA at present. This study focuses on patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and cartilage injury. Through a prospective randomized controlled clinical trial, the efficacy and quality of cartilage repair were compared between Matrixinduced Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (MACI) alone and MACI combined with platelet rich plasma (PRP), aiming to identify the optimal clinical model for cartilage repair. T2 Mapping was used to evaluate the biological quality of newly formed cartilage, T1 weighted three-dimensional gradient echo volume interpolation breath holding examination (3D-T1W-Vibe) was used to evaluate the morphological quality of newly formed cartilage, and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was used to evaluate overall knee joint function. The results showed that the T2 Mapping values of the MACI+RP group were significantly lower than those of the MACI group at 1-2 years after surgery. At 6 months after surgery, the KOOS score of the MACI+RP group was significantly higher than that of the MACI group. However, at 1-2 years after surgery, the KOOS scores of both groups returned to the same level. The combination of MACI and PRP technology for repairing KOA cartilage defects achieves better biological quality of newly formed cartilage, closer to natural transparent cartilage, and faster postoperative recovery of knee joint function.

cartilage degeneration  /  knee osteoarthritis  /  matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation  /  platelet-rich plasma  /  magnetic resonance cartilage sequence  /  T2 mapping