BEAR Implant

OSS Health is pioneering the use of a breakthrough technology called the BEAR® Implant for treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, one of the most common knee injuries in the U.S. 

The BEAR Implant is the first innovation in ACL tear treatment in more than 30 years. It is the first and only FDA approved medical technology that enables a torn ACL to heal and restores the natural function of the knee. This new approach is a shift from the current standard of care, reconstruction, which replaces the ACL with a graft. 

Every year, approximately 400,000 ACL injuries occur in the U.S. A torn ACL does not heal without treatment, resulting in ACL reconstruction being one of the most common orthopedic procedures in the U.S. Yet the procedure has drawbacks; some procedures require two separate incisions, and some people who undergo reconstruction are unable to return to the same level of daily activities or sports. 

There are a number of advantages to restoring a ligament instead of replacing it, and this exciting medical technology is the first to enable the body to heal its own torn ACL while maintaining the natural knee anatomy.

What does the procedure entail?
Unlike reconstruction, the BEAR Implant does not require a second surgical wound site to remove a healthy tendon from another part of the leg or the use of donor tendon. Instead, the implant acts as a bridge to help ends of the torn ACL heal together. The surgeon injects a small amount of your own blood into the implant and inserts it between the torn ends of the ACL in a minimally invasive procedure. The combination of the BEAR Implant and your blood enables the body to heal the torn ends of the ACL back together while maintaining the ACL’s original attachments to the femur and tibia. As the ACL heals, the BEAR Implant is resorbed by the body.

Who is the procedure for?
The BEAR Implant is approved for patients of all ages.  The original FDA approval was based on patients 14+, but in 2025, the FDA approved expanding the indication to include children and adolescents of any age.  Most tear types are eligible, including partial tears.

What are the benefits?
About half of people who receive patellar tendon grafts experience pain while kneeling, and those who receive hamstring grafts have persistent weakness – as much as a 50% deficit at two years. Since the BEAR Implant doesn’t involve a graft, these types of complications don’t occur.

The BEAR Implant has also been shown to reduce the risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. PTOA is a progressive joint disease that can develop during the years after an ACL injury, with studies showing rates of clinically symptomatic PTOA as high as 50% for patients who undergo ACL reconstruction. There is currently no cure for PTOA, other than total knee replacement, and available treatments focus on managing symptoms rather than restoring joint health. In clinical studies, patients treated with the BEAR Implant had a rate of PTOA six times lower than patients treated with ACL reconstruction.

Additionally, both ACL reconstruction approaches have an ACL re-tear rate as high as 20% for teens and as high as 9% for adults. If the ACL is re-injured, revisions to traditional ACL reconstruction can be complicated and can require multiple surgeries. Conversely, revisions with the BEAR Implant are easier and more predictive.