Researchers have developed a new scaffold implant to accelerate the healing of injured tendons.
Tendons are the crucial tissues that connect muscle to bone. These injuries can take many weeks or months to heal, and often don’t have complete recovery, resulting in the tendon being weaker than it was and risking further injury.
Most tendon tears and ruptures result from:
- Advanced age resulting in decreased blood supply to the inside of the tendon
- Strenuous physical activity
- Direct trauma
- An acute sporting injury
- Unexpected force often caused by landing on your feet after jumping from a height
- Excessive strain while pushing off with the weight-bearing foot.
Findings have just been released showing a silk fibroin scaffold sheet seeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), aided regeneration and healing of tendons by producing signaling molecules that summon immune cells to the area and encourage new blood vessels to form.
The study was undertaken by researchers at the Terasaki Institute in Los Angeles, California.
The research paper is referenced here:
