Glossary

Adverse reaction: An undesirable event occurring during or following the use of a medicine or a medical device.
Arthritis: A joint disease that can cause joint pain, swelling and stiffness, and/or redness of the skin over the joint.
Arthroscopy: Inspection of the inside of a joint of the body using an endoscope.
Cartilage: Fibrous, connective tissue found in humans that provides support to skeletal bones at specific sites and forms the smooth surface of joints.
Clinical trials: Investigations in humans (in this case), to find out the efficacy or safety of medical drugs or devices.
Collagen: A tough, fibrous protein forming an important part of skin, tendons, bones, cartilage and other connective tissues. Collagen helps hold together the cells and tissues of the body.
Efficacy: The ability to produce the necessary or desired results.
Elasticity: The ability of a substance, in this case cartilage to return quickly to its original shape and size after being bent, stretched, or squashed.
Hyaluronic acid: Hyaluronic acid is a natural sugar that is one of the body's important building stones filling many different functions and is also found in all the organs in the body.
Intra-articular: Within the joint.
Orthopedics: The branch of medicine concerned with the nature and correction of disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, or muscles.
Osteoarthritis: A joint disease that is characterized by a breakdown of the cartilage and a deterioration of the fluid in a joint; symptoms of osteoarthritis include pain and stiffness.
Rheumatology: The area of medicine that is concerned with the causes, development, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the joints, muscles, and connective tissues.
Side-effect: An undesirable event occurring during or following the use of a medicine or a medical device.
Synovial fluid: The hyaluronan-containing fluid found in a joint that lubricates and cushions the joint.
Viscosity: The property of a fluid or semi-fluid that causes it to be thick, and resist flowing.
Viscosupplementation: A procedure that restores the shock-absorbing and lubricating properties of the synovial fluid in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.