A team of researchers led by IRM faculty member Riccardo Gottardi, PhD, recently published in Nature Communications. Their work explores a novel scaffolding approach to improve surgical treatment of severe subglottic stenosis in infants. Existing surgical treatments for young children are challenging due to the patients lacking the necessary costal cartilage for laryngotracheal reconstruction to enlarge the airway. Dr. Gottardi et al. created a scaffold based on porcine meniscal cartilage decellularization – which they termed MEND – which promotes cellular re-invasion via microchannels. Their work demonstrates that MEND can recellularize and reach structural and functional maturity within 3-weeks, which is a clinically compatible timeframe. These results highlight the feasibility of this tissue engineering approach, which could overcome challenges presented in pediatric patients and improve clinical outcomes.

You can read the full paper here.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also has a feature on this remarkable work. You can read their full release here.