According to a UNM Health Sciences Center release, researchers are hoping to create hybrid bone-ligament tissue through electrospinning and 3-D bioprinting techniques for improved outcomes in hand and wrist surgery.
The American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand recently awarded the UNM Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Research Division a $20,000 grant to use specific patient anatomy in developing bone-ligament adherence systems using a 3-D printer, according to the release. The project is further supported by a UNM’s Women in STEM Award.
“Ligament repair or replacement has been plagued by problems joining soft tissue with adjacent bones,” Christina Salas, director of UNM’s Orthopaedics Biomechanics and Biomaterials Laboratory and principal investigator, is quoted as saying in the press release. “Our proposed methodology would let surgeons import patient-specific bone and ligament anatomy directly into a 3D printer to better join engineered and native bone during joint repairs or replacement. It also allows for high-strength tissue growth and helps avoid bone grafting and suturing, while offering potential to restore full hand and wrist functionality immediately.”
According to the release, Salas is partnering on the project with student researchers from UNM’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, as well as its Mechanical Engineering Department, where she holds a joint appointment.
The project will continue through 2017 and final results will be presented at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand annual meeting this fall, and published in ASSH’s “The Journal of Hand Surgery,” according to the release.
“We are excited about Dr. Salas' research and her contributions to important new information in the field," Julia Fulghum, director of Advance at UNM, a National Science Foundation-funded project that aims to boost the number of women and minorities in STEM fields, is quoted as saying in the press release.
Matthew Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MReisen88.
