Current Research and Developments

Surgica Corporation has developed a valuable surface modification technology for use with implantable medical devices. The patent pending invention is directed towards controlling undesired tissue growth adjacent to, upon, or within surgical implants, which is a substantial cause of functional loss for a variety of essential medical products. The company believes it's discovery will minimize or eliminate the major cause of failure for many surgical implants, such as stents, shunts, valves, and indwelling catheters. The company is also pursuing the areas of Embolization Therapy, Osteoarthritis Treatment, and Abdominopelvis Adhesion Prevention. Embolization Therapy is being used to treat a variety of medical conditions by blocking blood flow to tumors, tissues, and malformations.¹

CryoLife has been developing technology that will enable it to produce living biological products for implantation. These products, called the SynerGraft family, will consist of living heart valve, vascular, and connective tissue implantable products. These new living biologic devices use animal tissue structures that are depopulated of animal cells, leaving a collagen matrix that has the potential to be repopulated with the implant recipient's cells.²

Georgia Tech has a research program focused on orthopaedic tissue engineering. The program is working to develop clinically effective constructs for the replacement or restoration of damaged bone and cartilage. They are researching strategies that use genetically modified cells or bioactive scaffolds alone to stimulate repair of defects caused by injury or diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.³

Advanced Tissue Sciences has four programs of research; wound care, orthopedic, cardiovascular, and aesthetic & reconstructive surgery. The wound care program is working to commercialize human-based tissue products for the treatment of burns and skin ulcers. Their two main products are Dermagraft and TransCyte. The orthopedic program is developing human cartilage tissue derived from chondrocytes (cartilage cells) with the initially focus on developing cartilage products for the repair of damage to articular cartilage. The cardiovascular program is researching a variety of tissue-engineered products including small-diameter vascular grafts, stents, and heart valves. The aesthetic and reconstructive surgery program focuses on skin-restoration procedures and other cosmetic corrections.⁴

Liver Project

While transplantation has been the established treatment for end-stage liver disease,the shortage of donor organs continues to become more severe over time. For this reason our laboratory has investigated tissue engineering of the liver using cell-laden polymer devices as a means of generating new tissue replacements. A small number of healthy hepatocytes (liver cells) are harvested, cultured in vitro until they develop new tissue formation, and seeded onto a biodegradable polymer which serves as a structural scaffold upon which the cells can grow. The idea is that, once implanted back into the patient, the scaffold will degrade, leaving behind a durable tissue structure that can provide a long-term solution for specific ailments by recreating the essential functions of the organ.

Cardiovascular Project:

Disease of the cardiovascular system remain the leading cause of morbitiy and mortality worldwide. Approximately 57 million North American people suffer from one or more forms of cardiovascular disease and the cost of treatment exceeds $260 billion.

Cardiovascular tissue engineering focuses on the development of the blood vessles, heart valves and myocardium.

Blood Vessels

Cast of an aorta and left coronary artery with a close up view into the left ventricle.

The majority of patients with vascular atherosclerotic diseases need blood vessel substitutes to reestablish vascular continuity. The ideal blood vessel should be a compliant, functioning substitute with the ability to repair, remodel, and grow. The internal surface should be covered with an intact and functioning endothelial cell lining to prevent thrombosis and to provide vascoactivity. Current approaches in tissue engineering use either acellular (polymer based) or decellularize (xenogenic) matrices and autogologous cellular components to achieve the goal of an ideal blood vessel.

Heart Valves

Approximately 300,000 procedures for repair or replacement heart valves are performed annually worldwide. Over 95% of these operations affect valves in the systemic circulation. The current available prosthetic heart valves have excellent long-term function but need life long anticoagulation to prevent clotting and are also susceptible to infections. The alternatively used bioprostheses (porcine valves or bovine pericardium) provide better fliud dynamics and avoid coagualtions. However, these valves have limited durability. None of the current valve devices provide growth potential. The tissue engineering of heart valves focus on the development of an identical copy of a health normal heart valve.

Myocardium

Heart transplantation is the only established therapy for end-stage heart failure; however, the shortage of donor organs has become a major limitation. The transplantation waiting lists world wide are increasing in numbers and patients have to wait longer to get a heart transplantation. For this reason there has been great interest in cell transplantation as an alternative to heart transplantation. Using the principles of tissue engineering, we are currently investigating cardiomyocytes transplantation with polymers to generate new tissue replacement. The purpose of our studies is to investigate the effects of different polymers on the function and survival of injected cardiomyocytes in vitro and in vivo, to establish a method of injecting a critical mass of cardiomyocytes and to improve heart function.⁵

Uterine Artery Embolization

Uterine embolization is a treatment for fibroids that has developed over

the past decade. Embolization is a medical term for a procedure in which

a physician injects small particles through a catheter placed in the uterine

artery. The particles block the blood supply to the fibroids, resulting

in the death of the fibroid tissue. The picture to the left shows the decrease

of blood supply to the fibroid. This leads to shrinkage of the fibroids

and relief of symptoms for most patients, without the need for surgery

or removal of the uterus. ⁶

Reference:

Building a better body picture http://detnews.com/1998/health/9810/14/10140225.htm

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Current Research and Developments

Uterine Artery Embolization

By Christine Brown and Jessica Laclair