Drs. Rivkah Isseroff and Min Zhao from UCDavis, and their project leader Marco Rolandi and other colleagues are reporting exciting progress on their Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project. Their collaborative efforts involve actively developing and testing intelligent bandages to cut healing time in half. This innovative approach includes the delivery of ion channel modulators and electric currents to precisely promote wound healing. The team’s overarching objective is closed-loop control and precision temporal-spatial modulation.
As background: Backed by up to $16 million in funding from DARPA, UC Santa Cruz engineers are collaborating seamlessly with doctors and scientists at UC Davis and Tufts University. Together, they embarked on an ambitious journey to pioneer bioelectronic intelligent control of wound regeneration. The project integrates bioelectronic devices, machine learning, and regenerative medicine to achieve precise control over the physiological processes crucial for wound healing. (Read more about it)
Further reading about DARPA’s initiatives in Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration
In the realm of innovative research in diabetic foot care, Dr. Alejandro Zulbaran y Rojas and his team led by Dr. Bijan Najafi at Baylor College of Medicine are spearheading a study focused on continuous oxygen diffusion for ischemic diabetic foot patients undergoing minor amputations. While the team aims to conclude the study in 2024, some of the preliminary findings were shared at the International Diabetic Foot Symposium in the Hague last May. This research represents a significant stride in optimizing treatment approaches for diabetic patients undergoing minor amputations, with a focus on enhancing tissue oxygenation and supporting the intricate healing process.
Dr. Rojas engaged in a thought-provoking interview with EO2 Concepts, the sponsor of the study. For a more in-depth understanding of their innovative work, you can listen to the interview here.
Dr. Elliot Botvinick and his collaborator Dr. Ali Mohraz from the University of California, Irvine, are transforming insulin delivery by developing an innovative insulin infusion set incorporating a revolutionary material known as bijel templated material (BTM). This unique sponge-like material aligns with a theory suggesting that material shape and internal curvatures can instruct the immune system to dispatch pro-healing signals to the surrounding tissue. Their experiments in mice have confirmed the validity of this concept. The team has recently concluded a six-pig study with promising results and they are currently actively seeking funding to progress to human trials.
Drs. Frank Ross and Louis Iannuzzi from NYU Langone Health are championing the use of total contact casting in their clinic to mitigate the risk of lower extremity amputation. Termed 'The Carville Approach', they find that this method, considered the 'gold standard' for treating Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs) is underutilized in the US. Their data shows a 85% healing rate for DFUs. Last fall, Drs. Jason Zhang and Frank Ross presented this data at the Eastern Vascular Society's national meeting. They will present these findings this March at the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery (lecture M51 at SCVS 2024).
Dr. Adam L. Isaac from the Foot & Ankle Specialists of the Mid-Atlantic is exploring innovative treatments like ProgenaMatrix, Mirragen, and Debritom+ in post-market studies for chronic DFUs. He is steering a phase 2 study, unraveling the potential of a mesenchymal stem cell patch to transform the landscape of chronic DFU therapy.
Dr. Joseph Larsen of OpTUM Podiatry focuses his research on the continuous diffusion of oxygen as a dressing in elective bunion surgery to decrease the reliance on opioids. He is currently working on a paper detailing this research. He recently spoke at the NYSPMA state conference in NYC where he discussed the utilization of 'Advanced Biologics for Limb salvage'.
Dr. Alexander Fanaroff and his team from Penn Medicine have created a database of over one million Medicare patients with critical limb ischemia (CLTI) with longitudinal (inpatient and outpatient) follow-up. The team described the cohort in a publication in JSCAI and had a podium presentation at SCAI Scientific Sessions.
Ongoing projects using this rich database are looking at the association between the time from the diagnosis of CLTI to revascularization and clinical outcomes. Additionally, the team is looking at the receipt of vascular specialty care in the year prior to a major lower extremity amputation, examining the factors of race, rurality, and socioeconomic status.