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Students Embed Stem Cells into Sutures for Tendon Repair
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Shane McGlaun | DailyTech
July 27, 2009
One of the medical breakthroughs with the greatest promise is stem cells. Stem cell research is frowned on by many because it is most often associated with stem cells from aborted fetuses.
However, great strides in stem cell research using stem cells for the patient’s own body are being made. The new stem cell research takes stem cells from the patient and uses them for all sorts of procedures including breast augmentation.
Biomedical engineering students from Johns Hopkins have demonstrated a way to use stem cells from a patient to help repair serious orthopedic injuries such as ruptured tendons. The students demonstrated a method of embedding the patient’s own stem cells into a surgical thread that the surgeon uses to repair torn tendons.
The new process doesn’t change or impact the way that surgeons repair the injury. Currently the new process is undergoing animal trials and will hopefully make it to human trials in about five years. The new process has great promise for speeding healing from serious injuries.
Matt Rubashkin, the student team leader said, “Using sutures that carry stems cells to the injury site would not change the way surgeons repair the injury. But we believe the stem cells will significantly speed up and improve the healing process. And because the stem cells will come from the patient, there should be no rejection problems.”
The project team included ten undergraduates and was sponsored by a company called Bioactive Surgical Inc. and the team won first place in the Design Day 2009 competition conducted by the university’s Department of Biomedical engineering.
The team located a machine that could weave a surgical thread in a way that would ensure the most effective delivery of stem cells. The stem cells are harvested from the hip of the patient while they are under anesthesia.
The students developed the process for the design competition, but orthopedic surgeons did the actual surgery on the animal test subjects. The surgical thread is embedded with the stem cells using a “simple” proprietary process.
PhillyXTech
3 months ago
388 comments
I want to see more research like this being done. Wherever the stem cells come from, we need to move ahead with the practical application side of things or else the whole debate is pointless.