Wounded troops may soon be able to regrow muscle, bone and tissue, and essentially regenerate their lost limbs, military scientists say.
What it means: “What we’re trying to do is develop a toolkit for our trauma and reconstructive surgeons out of various regenerative medicine products as they emerge to improve long-term outcomes in function and form of injured extremities,” Saunders said at Military Health System Research Symposium.
To make progress toward troops being able to regrow missing limbs, a researcher is working to develop synthetic fillers to apply to gaps in bones that have been damaged. Stephanie Shiels of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research said the fillers would help to heal the bones, and a bulking agent could be used to help regenerate bone.
If achieved this would offer possible solutions and treatment to an ever-growing population of more than 20,000 U.S. troops wounded in action in Operation Enduring Freedom, and nearly 32,000 were wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and more than 200 that have been wounded in action in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, according to the Defense Department.
