Cartiva (Alpharetta, Georgia), a company developing solutions to treat cartilage damage and osteoarthritis, has published a study demonstrating what it calls "significant clinical improvement" using its synthetic cartilage implant (SCI) in patients with osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal (CMC) joint at the base of the thumb, also known as basal thumb arthritis. Cartiva SCI is a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel that was designed to mimic natural cartilage, the company said.