Persufflation of Composite Tissue Transplants

Abstract

Composite tissue transplants, such as those of the face and limb, must be stored in the cold after the tissue is harvested from a deceased donor and while it is being transport to the operating room. These tissues can only be stored for a maximum of 4-6 hours before they can no longer be successfully transplanted. The proposed work seeks to increase this time limit by using persufflation (a technique in which oxygen gas is pumped through a tissue’s blood vessels) to preserve the tissue. Persufflation has not previously been applied to composite tissues, although it has shown very promising results in the preservation of whole organs. The proposed work will optimize the persufflation procedure and compare it to the current standard (storage in cold solution). This work seeks to extend the preservation time to 24 hours in a rat transplantation model. Future work would extend the results to larger animals and humans; a tissue preservation time of 24 hours would allow much greater clinical flexibility in the procurement of composite tissues and extend the reach of this surgical technique. The proposed work addresses the Fiscal Year 2016 Restorative Transplantation Research Program Focus Area of improving ex vivo composite tissue preservation techniques to extend the time between procurement and transplantation, with a goal of 24 hours.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Oct 29, 2018
Source ID
W81XWH1710571

Entities

People

  • Joe Tien

Organizations

  • Boston University
  • United States Army

Tags

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Neuroscience
  • Oncology and Biomarker-Based Cancer Detection.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology