The Lavender Fertilized ACL procedure is a minimally invasive technique that uses a mixture of bone marrow concentrate, autograft bone and demineralized bone matrix to fill the tunnels within the knee joint during ACL reconstruction. The technique utilizes an innovative concept of internal brace reinforcement to improve stability of the healing ACL. The results of Marshall Orthopaedics’ clinical trial – the study group’s 80 percent return to normal function in 12 weeks — dwarfs the usual 35 percent of a standard ACL reconstruction in the same time frame. The normal ACL recovery of six to nine months can sometimes extend out to a year. “First, we’re taking a patient’s own stem cells and actually using them to make a composite graft,” Dr. Chad Lavender said. “But in the last two to two-and-a-half years, we’ve been able to harvest bone from the reamings we get in surgery, that autograft bone, and put that in the composite graft. I think it’s amazing technology to do in a single stage procedure.”