The Oregon Medical Laser Center (OMLC) has been working to make a difference in lives since 1991. Originally established by Kenton Gregory, M.D. to pursue new applications for lasers in medicine, the center has quickly expanded its reach to encompass biomaterials research, and tissue regeneration. Today, under the continuing leadership of Dr. Gregory, the OMLC is considered not only one of the top biomedical laser research facilities in the world, but also an international leader in the development of advanced wound-repair and hemorrhage-control technologies and is well positioned to lead advances in the future of regenerative medicine.
Harnessing the healing power within our body’s own cells The OMLC Cell Therapy Program focuses on the healing and repair of damaged tissues using the patients’ own adult stem cells. These cells can be found in bone marrow, blood, as well as the heart. Once isolated, these cells can be “guided” in their development to regenerate specific tissues, such as heart muscle in patients with cardiac failure or skeletal muscle in patients with limb injuries.
Led by Dr. Kenton Gregory, the OMLC Cell Therapy Program is a multidisciplinary team that includes the pre-clinical trial surgery group and the cell biology group. The OMLC Cell Therapy Program is located in the newly designed Tissue Engineering Center, which consists of state-of-the art bio-assembly and bio-imaging suites, and class 1,000 and 10,000 clean rooms. Within the center is located one of the most advanced tissue engineering facilities in Oregon for biomedical and tissue engineering research, as well as a state-of-the-art Zeiss two-photon LSM 510-meta confocal microscope, which enables scientists to peer into fixed or living tissue to study interactions of cell growth, development and transformation.
Adult stem cell therapy is a rapidly developing field of study, creating innovative methods of healing injured and diseased tissues, with the potential to help millions of patients with within the next few years. The use of the patients’ own adult stem cells also means that there is little likelihood of rejection of the cells in therapy. And finally, unlike the more controversial use of embryonic stem cells, there are no ethical issues for the use of adult stem cells.
Overall, the idea that we can regenerate heart tissue using a patients’ own stem cells is one of the most exciting things ever to happen in the cardiovascular field.
Chitosan
Saving lives in Afghanistan and Iraq The chitosan bandage, developed by the OMLC and considered a major breakthrough in hemorrhage control technology, was recently named by the U.S. Army as one of the 2004 "Top 10 Greatest Inventions." This bandage is currently saving lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hemorrhage is the single leading cause of death among soldiers killed in action. Chitosan, made from the shell of shrimp has the ability to bond with red blood cells to rapidly form a clot. Within the next few years, our chitosan bandages may be saving lives in every emergency department in the country.
Artery replacement Recently, the OMLC created an artery replacement made from a natural protein called elastin. Each year in the United States, more than 500,000 people undergo cardiac bypass graft surgery to replace arteries in the heart that have become diseased. The best arterial replacement is another artery from the patient’s own body; however, the supply of nonessential arteries that can be removed from one part of the body and replanted in the heart is extremely limited- a person who needs multiple grafts can quickly exhaust the supply. Today, the OMLC is one of only four or five sites in the country specializing in this very exciting field of biomaterial research.
Stopping internal bleeding For the past seven or eight years, scientists at the OMLC have been trying to find a way to stop bleeding of the stomach and esophagus. Ulcers and other causes of bleeding in these organs are difficult to treat, and cause thousands of deaths each year. Although we have succeeded in using lasers to fuse elastin to skin and certain organs, until recently we had been unable to find a material that would stick to the slick surface of the esophagus or the stomach. Our work with the chitosan bandage prompted us to reopen this line of investigation, and we have made a major breakthrough: Chitosan not only sticks like glue to the stomach and esophagus, but stops very serious bleeding in about two minutes. Using lasers and endoscopic techniques to apply and seal the material, we may be able to introduce a brand new, non-surgical way to treat life-threatening internal bleeding, not only of the stomach and esophagus, but perhaps the colon, as well.
Tropoelastin Biomaterials
Tropoelastin is a natural protein that is converted into elastin, which is an important component of elastic tissues such as skin, lungs, blood vessels and ligaments. We synthesized human tropoelastin in the laboratory in large quantities and converted it into a biomaterial used in the production of tubes, patches or coatings.
Vascular reconstruction In vascular replacement and repair, the best current option is to implant your own veins and arteries but there is an obvious limit is the supply of vessels and the detriment to the healthy donor tissue. Tropoelastin polymers have the elasticity and strength required for a blood vessel wall. Small diameter tubes are cast, cross-linked and used as the basis for engineering replacement blood vessel segments to repair arteries damaged by a heart attack.
Gastrointestinal repair There are no current tissue repair biomaterials for the gastrointestinal tract. Tropoelastin combined with collagen should provide the strength and resilience required for this application. Human tropoelastin and collagen is co-polymerized, cast and cross-linked into patches to replace and repair gastrointestinal structures such as the esophagus, stomach, duodenum and intestines.
Vascular stents
A significant new lethality problem has arisen because of the 1 percent incidence of late stent thrombosis in the over 1 million drug eluting stents that have been implanted. Tropoelastin coated stents show promise as a new generation of stent design because coating with a natural human protein eliminates the synthetic polymers used presently that can cause adverse reactions.
Optics
Our study of optics has expanded beyond our initial focus on blood clot removal and encompasses the following:
Tissue Repair – using albumin to more effectively control bleeding following liver removal.
Photo-curing of Dental Composites – understanding the complex interaction between the curing light and the composite to improve the durability and efficacy of photo-cured dental composites.
Fiber-based Spectroscopy – studying the optical scattering and absorption properties of tissue with a specific interest in improving the detection of oral cancers.
Optical Phantoms – fabricating solid optical tissue phantoms for industry to improve the calibration of optical devices used in medicine and, and the reliability of measurements taken on real tissues in medical research of cancer and other tissue disorders.
