Finding a vein
Off-the-shelf blood vessels made of collagen could be used for heart and kidney bypass operations, rather than patients’ own veins. They have been made by growing human cells on tubular scaffolds which then biodegrade. Stripping away the living cells leaves collagen tubes for transplant (Science Translational Medicine, DOI: 10.1126/scietranslmed.3001426).
Cost-effective new face
Facial transplant surgery is costly – but no more so than the alternatives. The first US face transplant, in 2008, has been costed at $350,959. But the 46-year-old recipient had spent four years undergoing traditional reconstructive surgical procedures totalling $353,480 (American Journal of…
