World's First Synthetic Larynx Part Transplanted
Link to the article can be found here.
In a leap forward for regenerative/transplant medicine, Russian surgeons have successfully transplanted a completely synthetic portion of the larynx. The procedure was done in two patients and is one of the first steps towards creating an entire voicebox from scratch.
The larynx is the part of the respiratory tract between the pharynx and the trachea, having walls of cartilage and muscles. The larynx contains the vocal cords, enveloped in folds of mucous membrane, and it is used to create vocalization, conduct air to the lungs, and provide support for the esophagus.
The latest set of larynx grafts are the most ambitious yet, containing a track about 5 cm long, as well as a cricoid arch and plate, a hollow, collar-like segment formed the base of the larynx. Before implantation, stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow were placed and grown on the graft, so that once transplanted it would grow its own layers of native surface cells. This concept is incredible because loading the implant with somatic cells decreases the likelihood that the it could be rejected by the body, as well as induce growth once placed.
The two patients who received these transplants were victims of car accidents that left them without the ability to speak due to injury and blockages in the windpipe. After the surgery, both could speak and breathe properly almost immediately. Paolo Macchiarini of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and head of the surgical team that performed the operations, comments that "it was very emotional."
I found this article incredibly interesting, not only because it is a new breakthrough in synthetic transplants, but because its recent research suggests that there is much that can be accomplished in regenerative medicine. The possibilities are astounding -- one day we could possibly replace an entire larynx of someone who may have lost functionality before, thus enabling their ability to communicate vocally. How neat is that?
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| "InBreath" Bioreactor with synthetic laryngotracheal scaffold seeded with patient's own cells (Image: Harvard Bioscience, Inc.) |
In a leap forward for regenerative/transplant medicine, Russian surgeons have successfully transplanted a completely synthetic portion of the larynx. The procedure was done in two patients and is one of the first steps towards creating an entire voicebox from scratch.
The larynx is the part of the respiratory tract between the pharynx and the trachea, having walls of cartilage and muscles. The larynx contains the vocal cords, enveloped in folds of mucous membrane, and it is used to create vocalization, conduct air to the lungs, and provide support for the esophagus.
The latest set of larynx grafts are the most ambitious yet, containing a track about 5 cm long, as well as a cricoid arch and plate, a hollow, collar-like segment formed the base of the larynx. Before implantation, stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow were placed and grown on the graft, so that once transplanted it would grow its own layers of native surface cells. This concept is incredible because loading the implant with somatic cells decreases the likelihood that the it could be rejected by the body, as well as induce growth once placed.
The two patients who received these transplants were victims of car accidents that left them without the ability to speak due to injury and blockages in the windpipe. After the surgery, both could speak and breathe properly almost immediately. Paolo Macchiarini of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and head of the surgical team that performed the operations, comments that "it was very emotional."
I found this article incredibly interesting, not only because it is a new breakthrough in synthetic transplants, but because its recent research suggests that there is much that can be accomplished in regenerative medicine. The possibilities are astounding -- one day we could possibly replace an entire larynx of someone who may have lost functionality before, thus enabling their ability to communicate vocally. How neat is that?
posted by Mallory Carson at 11:02 PM
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