Specialized Blood Vessels Jumpstart and Sustain Organ Regeneration

November 10, 2010 Leave a Comment

10.11.2010

“In a pair of studies that has the potential to change the way researchers think about regenerative medicine, scientists have shown that a previously overlooked group of cells—the endothelial layer of blood vessels—is essential in helping adult stem cells multiply and revitalize damaged tissue.

The endothelium is the innermost layer of blood vessels, made up of cells that had largely been assumed to function primarily as delivery vehicles for oxygen and nutrients. But earlier this year, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Shahin Rafii figured out that these endothelial cells also release growth factors that direct bone marrow stem cells to multiply and differentiate into different types of blood cells. [...]”

Source/article: HHMI

Filed Under 2010, Health, SESTI Signals Tagged With Health, Medicine, SESTI Signal, Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine

Implanting Artificial Limbs in the Body

November 10, 2010 Leave a Comment

10.11.2010

“Surgically installing prostheses into bones works better than traditional methods, but it still presents a significant risk of infection.

Johnny Matheny, a former commercial baker from Redhouse, Virginia, lost his left arm to bone cancer in 2008. He now wears a hook-style prosthesis strapped onto his chest; he can laboriously open and close the hook and move the arm up and down by flexing certain muscles. But he is avidly awaiting new technology that he thinks will work much better: a surgically implanted device that attaches directly to bone, potentially enabling superior range of movement and more precise control. [...]”

Source/article: Technology Review

Filed Under 2010, Health, SESTI Signals Tagged With Health, Implants/Prosthetics, Medicine, SESTI Signal, Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine

Canadian researchers have found a way to create blood from a patch of a person’s own skin

November 7, 2010 Leave a Comment

07.11.2010

“In a breakthrough that could revolutionize the way leukemia is treated, Canadian researchers have found a way to create blood from a patch of a person’s own skin.

That means cancer patients may not have to wait for a life-saving donor match to receive a bone-marrow transplant and then face the risk of the body rejecting the blood stem cells as foreign. The treatment for blood conditions, like leukemia and anemia, could come from transfusions derived from a patient’s own skin.

“This is something that we feel very strongly that we need to pursue,” said lead researcher Mick Bhatia, scientific director of McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. He noted that many patients die waiting for a suitable bone-marrow donor.

His findings, published Sunday in the journal Nature, have yet to be expanded and to undergo safety tests before doctors can treat patients in clinical trials, which Dr. Bhatia hopes to begin as early as 2012.

But already, those in the medical and research community are buzzing that the discovery, made in a petri dish in a university laboratory, holds much promise for cancer patients. [...]”

Source/article: The Global Mail

Filed Under 2010, Health, SESTI Signals Tagged With Health, Medicine, SESTI Signal, Stem Cell, Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine

Gallery: Military’s Freakiest Medical Projects

November 6, 2010 Leave a Comment

05.11.2010

“The U.S. military has been on the forefront of medical research for decades. Earlier conflicts spurred discoveries to prevent malaria and typhoid, a sweeping overhaul of triage care and the introduction of skin grafts and morphine.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are no different. With more troops surviving devastating injuries, the military is fast-tracking efforts in regenerative medicine, investigating risky measures to prevent lifelong brain damage — even employing acupuncture in an effort to manage pain and mitigate post-traumatic stress. (And let’s not forget about the zombie pigs.)

Some of the Pentagon’s extreme medical innovations have already debuted in the war zone. And with myriad applications outside of combat, these advances in military medicine mean that revolutionary changes for civilian care aren’t far behind. [...]”

Source/article: Wired

Filed Under 2010, Health, SESTI Signals Tagged With Health, Implants/Prosthetics, Medicine, Military, NeuroSciTech, SESTI Signal, Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine

New Skin Printer Could Print You Some New Skin

November 4, 2010 Leave a Comment

04.11.2010

“Healing your wounds quickly and safely may be as easy as filling an inkjet printer with your cells. Wake Forest’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and the Armed Forces Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AFIRM) have developed a skin printer that can deposit cells directly onto a wound to help it heal faster. They recently presented the results of their latest experiments at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress (ACSCC) in Washington DC. Mice given topical wounds were able to heal in just three weeks when a new skin was printed onto the damaged area (compared to 5-6 with control groups). WFIRM and AFIRM also stated that the skin printer had been tested to see if it could print human cells, but that the next step forward would be experiments on pigs. If ultimately successful, skin printers could revolutionize the way we treat injuries – making serious wounds less fatal and rapidly speeding the healing of other injuries. [...]”

Source/article: Singularity Hub

Filed Under 2010, Health, SESTI Signals Tagged With Health, Medicine, Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine