|
Synthetic
Windpipe
With the Same Properties as a ‘Real Trachea’
|
 |
Polymers are already used in
medical devices, but the properties of these novel
polymers reduce the risk of rejection, rupture, or the
need for repeat surgery. They have better elasticity,
strength and versatility and are formulated to
encourage cell growth.
A University College London, UK,
scientist and his team designed and built the
synthetic windpipe ‘scaffold’ used in an operation in
Sweden announced by the Karolinska University Hospital
and Karolinska Institute.
The windpipe (trachea) implanted in
this patient was developed using Nanocomposite
materials which were developed and patented by
Professor Alexander Seifalian (UCL Division of Surgery
& Interventional Science), whose labs are based at the
Royal Free Hospital. Together with Professor Paolo
Macchiarini at Karolinska, who also holds an Honorary
appointment at UCL, Professor Seifalian designed and
developed the trachea scaffold using a material known
as a novel Nanocomposite polymer. |
Professor Seifalian has worked closely with UCL Business (UCLB),
responsible for technology development and commercial
transactions at UCL, to patent these materials and develop
their use in medical devices. As well as being used for
tissue scaffolds, the materials have other potential uses
such as coronary stents and grafts.
A Nanocomposite is a material containing some components
that are less than 100 nanometers (nm) in size. To give a
sense of scale, a human hair is about 60,000 nanometers in
thickness. A polymer is a repeating chain of small,
identical molecules (called monomers) which are linked
together.
Surgeons in Sweden have carried out the world’s first
synthetic organ transplant using a windpipe ‘grown’ from
the patient’s stem cells. The replica organ was
designed and developed by EPSRC sponsored Scientists.
The surgeons successfully implanted a synthetic windpipe
‘scaffold’ into the throat of a cancer patient. Without
the new windpipe (trachea), the patient, whose own
windpipe had been blocked by an inoperable tumor the size
of a golf ball, would have died.
The team used 3D computerized tomography (CT) scans of the
patient to craft a perfect copy of his trachea using a
glass mould, from which they developed a replica
‘scaffold’ using a novel Nanocomposite Polymers.
The full size Y shaped replica was taken to Karolinska
University Hospital in Sweden where stem cells taken from
the patient’s bone marrow and linings from his nose were
incorporated to it (or ‘seeded’) by Professor Paolo
Macchiarini, who codeveloped the scaffold with Professor
Seifalian and also performed the surgery. After two days,
the millions of nanoscale holes in the porous windpipe had
been seeded with the patient’s own tissue.
The full Biological trachea was grow in a bioreactor a
device designed for the procedure which provides the
correct environment for the tissue to grow, and very
effectively simulates the growth of natural tissue. The
result a synthetic windpipe with the same properties as a
‘real’ trachea.
The 12-hour operation was a complete success. In this
transplantation the tracheas used were taken from organ
donors and then reseeded with the patient’s own stem
cells.
|
Surgeons in Sweden have carried out the world’s first
synthetic organ transplant using a windpipe ‘grown’ from
the patient’s stem cells. The replica organ was designed
and developed by EPSRC sponsored scientists.
“What makes this procedure different is it’s the first
time a wholly tissue-engineered synthetic windpipe has
been made and successfully transplanted, making it an
important milestone for regenerative medicine”.
|
|
