When the painkillers stop working, arthritic joint damage in the big toe can make even the weight of a bedsheet agonizing.
Standard surgery eliminates that pain by removing the cartilage and fusing the bones, but at the expense of mobility.
Cartiva Inc’s implant - made of the same substance used in contact lenses, called hydrogel - was approved for big-toe surgeries by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July.
