1. Development and establishment of isolation and expansion of mesenchymal stem cells
2. Research of biological characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells
3. Development and improvement of treatment method of articular cartilage defect with mesenchymal stem cells
4. Development of treatment strategy to joint structure injuries with mesenchymal stem cells
5. Development of artificial cartilage and bone
6. Development of novel agents related to bone and cartilage metabolism
7. Genetical approach to bone and cartilage metabolism
8. Clarifying mechanism and control of post-injury and postoperative inflammation with tissue fibrosis
9. Clarifying mechanism of joint pain with novel treatment strategy
10. Genetic approach to secondary hip osteoarthritis

We are working with the Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgery as a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of University Hospital. The doctors start to have education of orthopedic surgery as a member of the department from the staffs of the department of Orthopaedic Surgery according to the orthopaedic education and training program after completing the two-year fundamental education and training program as a junior resident. They experience a lot of traumatic patients and deepen their basic orthopaedic skills for two-year junior orthopaedic training in one of the branch hospitals every year. They expand their skills and obtain orthopaedic specialty educations in the advanced two-year education and training program. After completing a six-year educational program of the orthopaedic surgery, they are recommended to apply to the orthopedic specialist form the Japanese Orthopaedic Association. They usually apply to enter the graduate school program after 4 or 5 years of clinical experience. We encourage not only orthopedic doctors but doctors of other specialty, veterinarian doctors and physical therapists, etc to work with us.

Treatment for sports injuries
Prevention, conservative treatment and rehabilitation for sports injuries
Anatomic double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction for ACL injuries
Surgical treatment for knee multiple ligament injuries
Surgical treatment for meniscal injuries to restore meniscal function
Regenerative medicine for unrepairable meniscus and cartilage injuries

Treatment for osteoarthritis (OA)
Conservative approaches to early OA
Joint-sparing surgeries such as osteotomies for moderate OA
Total arthroplasties for severe OA

Clinical researches and clinical results for above-mentioned approaches have been presented at both domestic and international congresses, as well as reported in Japanese and English articles.

Sports injuries
We have been performing double-bundle ACL reconstruction since 1994 as a pioneer, and reported good clinical outcomes regarding knee stability, ratio of return to sports and patients' satisfaction. As for meniscal surgeries, we have been trying to repair as much as possible to restore meniscal function. In addition, we have developed a novel surgical procedure to restore meniscal function for patients with post-meniscectomy and discoid meniscus. We have also analyzed mechanisms and preventive methods for ACL injuries, and first in the world clarified a detailed ACL injury mechanism. Based on the findings, various approaches to ACL injury prevention and rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction is being conducted.

Arthroplasties
We have developed a new total knee system called Actiyas, named after the combination of active and healed ("iyas" in Japanese), which is specifically designed for Japanese. In order to develop this, we analyzed Japanese bone morphology, and this system is designed for more functional and "active" motion without knee pain, and eventually patients to be "healed". Ceramic is used for the femoral implant, by which we can expect lesser implant wear, resulting in better long-term results. We perform simultaneous bilateral arthroplasties for Bilateral OA patients, helping them earlier return to daily life.

Regenerative medicine for cartilage and meniscus injuries using synovial stem cells
Based on numerous basic researches performed in our laboratory, we started stem cell therapy for cartilage injuries using synovial stem cells since April 2008. In this therapy, we take synovium from patients at day surgery, culture synovial stem cells at the cell processing center in our university, and transplant them arthroscopically. The safety and effectiveness had been already confirmed. In addition, we also started a clinical trial of synovial stem cell transplantation for unrepairable meniscal tear since August 2014.