Waste Surgical Tissues for Regenerative Medicine
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Acquisition and Storage of Human Tissue Samples from the Surgical Surplus/Biowaste for Regenerative Medicine and Human Tissue Engineering Research
IRAS ID
311495
Contact name
Iain Whitaker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea university
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
A significant proportion of the population has various tissue or organ defects, which arose from congenital causes or in the aftermath of trauma, malignancy, and aging or degenerative changes, are seeking reconstructive surgery to restore their normal form and function. However, besides the risk of immunological rejection, harvesting the healthy tissue or organ for transplantation may not only let the donor person suffer a risky invasive collection procedure but also affect the tissue at the donor site or the health condition of the donor person.
Regenerative medicine is replacing or "regenerating" human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function, which encompasses applying tissue engineering and/or cell therapy to stimulate the body's own repair mechanism or produce artificial grafts.
This project is a laboratory-based regenerative medicine study sponsored by Swansea University and Scar-free foundation, which aims to isolate cells from the surgical waste tissues acquired during surgical procedures such as bone, cartilage, skin, fat, tendon, etc. Samples will be used for facial reconstruction study to restore the damaged or diseased tissue. The research work will explore the tissue architecture, the cell behavior during the processes of tissue regeneration and repair, and the methodology of producing novel artificial tissue/organ through tissue engineering strategies, especially 3D bioprinting for reconstructive surgery operation.Tissue engineering holds exciting promise for tissue regeneration through replicating the native three-dimensional structure and bio-composition for wound healing and tissue or organ repair. Whilst, this technique makes it possible to bypass the need for extensive donor sites, lengthy surgeries, and potential surgical complications. In the case of ear reconstruction, 3D bioprinting could be one of the life-changing technology to overcome the complex structure tissue/organ regeneration obstructs, reducing donor site morbidity and overall scar burden. Our pilot data confirms that nanocellulose bioinks have promising printability and chondrogenicity when combined with human nasoseptal cartilage cells in vitro.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0104
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion