Research Trauma
Now you know...
Blast, blunt or penetrating trauma from improvised explosive devices and other modern warfare techniques are frequently fatal, but more often result in horrific injuries to organs and organ systems. There is no way to measurably improve combat casualty care or long-term restorative care following serious injury without a critical leap forward in development of new technologies and therapies for combat trauma. Toward this goal, the U.S. Congress established the National Tissue Engineering Center to develop and deliver regenerative therapies for far-forward medical care to improve survival and minimize morbidity after combat injuries are sustained.
PTEI’s trauma research program is the outgrowth of the urgent need for advanced trauma care by our military. There is no way to measurably improve combat casualty care or long-term restorative care following serious injury without a critical leap forward in development of new technologies and therapies for combat trauma.
The military’s need for these therapies is enormous.
Because of technological advances in equipment and body armor, soldier survivability has increased but at a great price. Improvised explosive devices — so-called IEDs — destroy limbs, head and neck and can cut through the strongest of armor, resulting in horrendous and often multiple complex wound sites. Burns are also a great problem.
Regenerative medicine provides the greatest promise for improving the lives of severly wounded soliders and their families.
Research
Trauma-specific research by PTEI-supported scientists includes the development of:- Advanced skin grafts for burn wound treatment
- Smart bioscaffolds to initiate tissue regeneration following traumatic wounding
- Advanced treatments of large open abdominal wounds
- Novel resuscitation fluids for treating shock due to hemorrhage
- Biomaterial to promote craniofacial bone regeneration on the battlefield, to stabilize the bone wound for long-term treatment.