Novel Biomaterials for Complex Tissue Repair and Reconstructive Surgery of Traumatic Injuries

Wounded soldiers experience a variety of musculoskeletal defects resulting from ballistic and blast trauma. Improved body armor technology and advanced medical care has decreased mortality due to blasts. However, optimal therapies have not been developed to treat the polytissue trauma that remains. Warfighters often exhibit substantial soft tissue damage in addition to bone fractures, which often makes it difficult or impossible to regain strength in the extremities or move their joints normally. Musculoskeletal tissues of the extremities are often damaged to a point that may require limb amputation. New therapeutic modalities are required to provide robust reconstructive options that restore extremity structure and function without multiple rounds of surgery. The ability to regenerate musculotendinous tissue and reattach muscles to bone through a normal orthopaedic interface would allow clinicians to substantially improve the outcomes of musculoskeletal reconstruction. Soft tissue injury can leave soldiers unable to return to duty. Soldiers may experience significant decrease in quality of life due to the damaged limbs which may not resemble the pre-injured state in appearance or function. In order to reduce soldier loss and increase quality of life, this proposal focuses on determining the feasibility of an off-the-shelf biomaterial solution for complex musculoskeletal tissue regeneration.