Surgical Biomaterials and Tissue Regeneration Technologies (Part 1)

Joseph R. Lopez

Plants, invertebrate animals, amphibians and even reptiles have the ability to regenerate lost or damaged body parts. In the case of lizards, for example, this is a defensive mechanism. When a predator attacks, the lizard can break off its own tail as a means of distraction. While the predator is busy eating the tail, the lizard escapes and regenerates the body part later on. Mammals can regenerate some skin and liver tissue, but our regenerative abilities stop there. Unlike lizards, which have nature to thank for their regenerative capabilities, we are dependent on scientists, physicians and the business community to develop new technologies that will help us repair and replace damaged tissue.

How do lizards and other animals regenerate tissue? Part of the answer has to do with stem cells. When an amphibian loses its tail, for example, stem cells in the spinal cord migrate into the regrowing tail and differentiate into several cell types, including muscle and cartilage. This occurs simultaneously with the growth and differentiation of cells in the tail stump. Eventually, this process results in a new, fully-functional and anatomically-correct tail.

The exact reasons why mammals are so limited when it comes to regenerative potential is still not known. However, there have been significant levels of investment into stem cell research over the past several years in the hope of developing new technologies that will offer the ability to grow lost or damaged tissue, and perhaps even organs. Although there have been a number of recent breakthroughs in stem cell research, technologies that will actually regenerate human tissue are still several years away from fully coming to market. In the meantime, a new market is developing for products that have the ability to interact with living tissue and in some cases promote cellular migration and growth. While these products stop well short of growing new limbs and organs, they do provide some solutions for many of the problems associated with traditional surgical and treatment options.

The surgical biomaterials market is currently one of the largest and fastest growing global medical markets. It encompasses a number of surgical specialties and has reached a market capitalization of several billions dollars. The rapid growth of surgical biomaterials has to do with their capacity to reduce procedure times, recovery times and complication rates, while providing clinicians with innovative approaches to improving the level of patient care. Medical device companies worldwide are racing to bring to market biomaterial implants and devices that are designed to help repair defects in soft tissue, skin and bones.

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