Combining Techniques of the Past and Technologies of the present
One of the areas where historically there is
least money invested into research and development is general and orthopaedic surgery
– less than 5% of government R&D spend is dedicated to this in the UK. But
yet hundreds of thousands of people suffer from long term soft tissue injuries
that can be debilitating on a daily basis and have a massive affect both
personally and professionally. But a team of researchers based at the University of Oxford and
the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital in the UK have designed and developed
a ‘package’ to provide support and
stimulation to soft tissue injuries to encourage and support regeneration of
connective tissues.
The team led by surgeon Professor Andrew
Carr have developed the implantable device which works on a ‘patch’ basis and
is a dual layer of different materials. One side consists of ultra-thin woven
nano-fibres, while the other side consists of a different woven material which
is effectively a support network for the nano-fibres and provides protection to
the tissue following surgical intervention. The support material is physically ‘spun’
on a loom – a technique which is literally hundreds of years old!
The device is thought to work by the
nano-fibres stimulating old and worn cells, facilitating self-regeneration of
the tissues and consequently the tissue heals. The added bonus is that the
woven support network then biodegrades over a period of months thereby
eliminating issues that are often found with foreign bodies remaining in place
following implantation.
The device is set to be trialled initially
for soft tissue shoulder injuries at the Nuffield Hospital in Oxford. Surgical
intervention for this type of injury has seen a 500% increase in the UK over
the past 10 years, but often the surgery is unsuccessful and repeated tissue
insult occurs. The team is however hopeful that the potential uses for the
device are much greater and other clinical uses such as hernias, cartilage
regeneration, and heart defects.
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| Dual Layer Bio-degradable Impantable Device |
The healing patch combines innovative new
cutting edge technologies, with old fashioned material preparation techniques
and illustrates that while we may ‘bring in the new’ we can still ‘bring out
the old’. Do any of the community members know of other devices that have combined
very aged practices which brand new technologies to create innovative
‘packages’? I’d be interested to know.
Adele Graham-King
Adele is a keen 'blogger' specialising in creating discussions in emerging drug, medical device and packaging technologies and pharmaceutical industry evolution.
