Ultrasound-Assisted Stabilization of Active Collagen for Enhanced Patellar Tendon Repair
Abstract
This application is in specific response to the topic area “Tissue Regeneration” and the focus area: “Development of novel therapies for regeneration of tendons and musculotendinous junctions.” The tissues that connect muscles to bone (tendons) or bone to bone (ligaments) are prone to injury and are slow to heal or heal incompletely. Ligaments and tendons are called soft tissues or connective tissues. Connective tissue injuries are common among active populations like the military. This is a problem since some connective tissue injuries simply will not heal, and oftentimes healed injuries are never quite the same again. Connective tissue injuries comprise the majority of musculoskeletal injuries and result in the largest number of days off for military personnel. The knee and the shoulder are major points of injury, and recovery is slow and often incomplete. In fact, 50% of personnel with soft tissue injuries to the knee do not return to their roles, or do so in a greatly reduced capacity. Injuries to the shoulder (rotator cuff) are cumulative, do not heal completely, and function may be impaired even well after surgical treatment. As a result, connective tissue injuries are a serious, debilitating, and widespread problem in need of an improved treatment method. In this application, an entirely new approach to deal with the burden and impact of soft tissue injuries has been proposed. A technique using collagen, the main component of tendons and ligaments, has been developed that under the right conditions, can spontaneously repair damaged tissues. This advance is an entirely new and promising approach to soft tissue repair that does not rely on the body’s intrinsic healing mechanism. This is an extremely important advance because most connective tissues lack the ability or have a greatly impaired ability to heal. Technology has also been developed to produce large collagen sheets that are four times as dense as native tendon and ligament. These collagen sheets provide a surgical option to connective tissue repair. More specifically, this means that connective tissue replacements can be manufactured from the same building blocks as native connective tissues (collagen) but are potentially stronger than the connective tissue they are replacing/repairing. Finally, the combination of these two technologies provides an approach to immediately repair and support a damaged joint, while the damaged connective tissue is undergoing repair. While this research is in its early stages, the preliminary data is strong and holds great promise to not only improve but drastically change the treatment approach and outcome of many connective tissue injuries. The potential impact of this new treatment method will be an increased military readiness, reduced suffering from injury, reduced career changes due to injury, improved morale, and improved quality of life.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 19, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910634
Entities
People
- Adam Hacking
Organizations
- ReGenX Biosciences (United States)
- United States Army