Ready-to-Use Tissue Construct for Military Bone and Cartilage Trauma.

摘要

Our proposal 'Ready-to-Use Tissue Construct for Military Bone and Cartilage Trauma' addresses the current limitations in treating complex, high-energy musculoskeletal wounds incurred in active combat. High-energy blast-injuries produce immediate, short-term and long-term consequences such as acute limb loss, bone loss, cartilage loss, stiffness, limping, pain, arthritis, and permanent disability, often requiring multiple reconstructive surgeries and prolonged rehabilitation. These 'osteochondral health' issues ultimately affect a soldier's quality of life both during active service and after retirement. Tissue engineering technology is a rapidly evolving field and utilizes mesenchymal cells, tissue scaffolds and growth factors. However, there are no currently available tissue-engineering constructs exhibiting 'Ready-to-Use' functionality. The most significant barrier to the practical application of tissue engineering for combat-related bone and cartilage defects is the time- and labor-intensive process of mesenchymal stem cell expansion. The goal of this proposal is to introduce a new tissue engineering paradigm to the Defense Health Program (DHP) by utilizing a biomechanically competent and anatomically matched tissue construct without resorting to the cumbersome process of mesenchymal stem cell expansion.