BERLIN — Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin published a study in the journal Radiology on June 16, 2026, which found that genicular artery embolization (GAE) using rapidly resorbable gelatin-based microspheres reduced pain and improved function in patients with knee osteoarthritis over 12 months. The study included 194 participants who had osteoarthritis-related knee pain that was unresponsive to at least three months of conservative treatment.

Participants underwent embolization procedures with resorbable microspheres between July and November 2024. All 239 embolization procedures performed during the study were technically successful and resulted in no moderate or severe adverse events. Forty-five participants underwent two embolization procedures for bilateral knee osteoarthritis within four weeks of each other.

The study found that median pain scores, measured on a 0-to-10 numeric scale, decreased from 7 at baseline to 4 at six weeks. Pain scores further decreased to 3 at both the six-month and 12-month follow-ups. Eighty percent of participants achieved improvements exceeding the minimum clinically important difference threshold on pain scales at the 12-month follow-up.

Participants also showed improvements in various Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) metrics. Median daily activity scores improved from 53 at baseline to 71.5 at 12 months. Median sports and recreation scores improved from 15 at baseline to 36, and median symptom scores improved from 51 to 68 over the same period. Additionally, median pain sub-scores improved from 44 at baseline to 65 at 12 months, and quality of life scores increased from 19 to 40 at 12 months.

Florian Nima Fleckenstein, deputy head of Interventional Radiology Campus Mitte at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, said, "GAE is a whole new treatment regimen that targets abnormal hypervascularity around the joint and, in turn, modulates the pathological neurovascular environment." He added, "By reducing both inflammation and pain, GAE with resorbable microspheres may be the first procedure that alters the course of the disease, slowing its progression." Collaborating researchers on the study included Dina David, Paolo Garducci, Tazio Maleitzke, Stephan Oehme, Lynn Jeanette Savic, Timo Alexander Auer, Bernhard Gebauer, Tobias Winkler, and Federico Collettini.

No independent assessment of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin’s claims was available.