Center for the Engineering of Wound Prevention and
Repair
This center was jointly proposed by the Departments of Plastic
Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, and established with funds from a
3-year Whitaker Foundation grant. The Wound Healing Laboratory has been
very active in our department's collaboration with Biomedical
Engineering to ensure the center's success. The center brings together
medical students and engineering students to learn and conduct research
with the ultimate goal of advancing basic knowledge and clinical
practice in wound medicine to the point of eradicating chronic wounds
and accelerating the repair of acute wounds. Our laboratory has been
involved in the research projects of two master's students and one
doctoral candidate. At present, we have three other master's students
working with our laboratory through this center. Research projects with
which we are involved include the following:
- Development of a realistic pressure ulcer model for therapeutic
testing
- Use of lipid growth factor to stimulate cell proliferation and
collagen synthesis
- Evaluation of skin flap perfusion using blood flow imaging and
computer simulations
- Study of possible mechanisms by which magnets act to reduce tissue
edema
Another component of this grant-funded program was the development
of a new graduate-level course entitled Wound Prevention and Repair:
Biology, Technology and Clinical Applications. Drs. Rodeheaver, Ratliff
and Gampper from the Department of Plastic Surgery joined Dr. Skalak
from the Department of Biomedical Engineering to teach this course for
the first time in Spring of 1998 to 10 graduate students studying
biomedical engineering, sports medicine, physical therapy and
nursing.
Visit the Center for the Engineering of Wound Prevention and
Repair website.
Center for the Study of
Complementary and Alternative Therapies (CSCAT)
Our department and CSCAT have initiated discussions about
complementary therapies which may prove useful to particular plastic
surgery patient populations. Currently, a clinical protocol is in
development that will examine the utility of static magnetic therapy to
reduce pain and edema in burn patients. Magnetic therapy is a
non-invasive form of therapy that has been documented effective in
numerous case studies for pain and edema reduction, but it needs to be
investigated for various clinical populations in double-blinded
clinical trials.
Concurrently, the Department of Plastic Surgery is also working to
understand the mechanism by which magnetic therapy may impact edema
through its collaborations with the Center for the Engineering of Wound
Prevention and Repair. Through these collaborations, we hope to better
understand those therapeutic modalities that may most benefit our
patients.
Visit the CSCATwebsite.
Surgical Therapeutic Advancement Center
(STAC)
Our wound healing laboratory has long been interested in the
properties and uses of biological adhesives. Consequently, we have
teamed with our clinical colleagues within the University to form a
complete adhesive evaluation center. Under the directorship of Dr.
William Spotnitz, the Surgical Therapeutic Advancement Center can
provide research collaboration with industry that runs the gamut from
bench to bedside. This means that the members of STAC have the
expertise to undertake basic research and development projects, conduct
pre-clinical animal studies, conduct Phase I, II, III, and IV clinical
trials, and assist in receiving FDA approval.
Visit the STAC
website.
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