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Plastic Surgery

Research Summary

The wide variety and increased volume of clinical challenges has stimulated both clinical and basic science programs. We have established a number of very exciting collaborations with scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital, MIT, Children's Hospital of Boston, and the Joslin Diabetes Center to develop better technologies to treat wounds. Our research has been focused on three major areas relating to stimulating complex wounds to heal: use of artificial extracellular matrices for regeneration, the use of biologics (growth factors and stem cells), the effect of mechanical forces on wound healing. Most of our efforts are now focused on methods to enhance healing in a diabetic mouse model. We have developed a model to look at waveform specific mechanical stretch on mouse skin. We also have extensive experience with the use of collagen-GAG matrices to induce regeneration in skin. We believe that a combination of these methods will lead to improved wound healing adjuncts in the large increase of complex wounds we will be facing in the next 10 years.

Histolic Sections

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Equipment & Techniques

Tissue Engineering and Wound Healing Lab, Thorn Building

Our newly renovated, state-of-the-art laboratory is housed in a 16-story biomedical building jointly funded by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and the Howard Huges Medical Institute. Our lab is over 500 ft2, which is part of a larger 16,000 ft shared lab facility that we also have access to. Our lab has facilities for mathematical modeling, fabrication of collagen matrices, molecular biology analysis, FACS, immunohistochemistry, animal surgery, micromechanical forces studies, platelet studies and cell culture. There are also operation rooms dedicated to cell culture and in vitro studies, anesthesia and large animal surgery, histology, corrosion casting and imaging, a cold room and equipment rooms.

Major Equipment

Microscope for in vivo microscopy; photo-imaging microscope connected to a computer for digital picture capture and analysis, which can be, used for digitizing microscopic photos from slides or real time operations; free unlimited access to a fluorescent microscope facility; five channel flow cytometers; tissue culture suite, fully functional and equipped with hoods, incubators, and reagents for basic tissue culture needs; in vivo computer navigated mouse back skin stretching device to investigate the effects of various force pattern on perfused tissues; cell counter; and thromboelastomer.

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Patents

Yannas IV, Burke JF, Orgill DP, Skrabut EM, inventors. US patent 4,418,691. 1983 Dec 6
“Method of Promoting the Regeneration of Tissue at a Wound”

Yannas IV, Orgill DP, Loree HM, II, Kirk JF, Chang ASP, Mikic BB, Krarup C, Norregaard TV. US Patent 4,955,893. 1990 Sep 11
“Prosthesis for Promotion of Nerve Regeneration”

Orgill DP, Butler CE, Barlow M, Ritterbush S, Yannas IV, Compton CC. US Patent 5,489,304. 1996 Feb 6
“Method of Skin Regeneration Using a Collagen-Glycosaminoglycan Matrix and Cultured Epithelial Autograft”

Orgill DP, Butler CE, Barlow M, Ritterbush S, Yannas IV, Compton CC. US Patent 5,716,411. 1998 Feb 10
“Method of Skin Regeneration Using a Collagen-Glycosaminoglycan Matrix and Cultured Epithelial Autograft”

Orgill DP, Mulliken J, Ehret F. US Patent 6,117,444. 2000 Sep 12
“Polyethylene Glycol/Microfibrillar Collagen Composite Serves as a Resorbable Hemostatic Agent”

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