Do the impossible: Regrow amputated fingers

A 68-year-old man in the United States has his fingers cut off a slang (burning) finger. American scientists have caused the finger to break back. It is thanks to a synthetic substance that can regenerate tissue and bone. This is the first step of modern medicine to help people be able to regrow hands and feet if unfortunately they have an accident that cuts hands and feet.

The story above sounds like a fantasy in the early days of 2007. However, the story is quite authentic .

In recent days, major news agencies in the world such as AP, ABC, CNN . have simultaneously reported on the unprecedented experiment ever. That is to recreate the dead-end fingers with a pig bladder extract . This substance is prepared by a biotechnology company called Acell Inc.

The US Department of Defense immediately noticed this invention. The US Military Medical Research Institute in Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio has a plan to test the aforementioned miracle regeneration. 5 soldiers injured in the war in Iraq will be the first to be tested .

A truncated finger, regrowth . normal!

It all began when Mr. Lee Spievack, 68, in Cincinnati, USA, was carelessly cut off by the motor's rotor when he was working in August 2005. Because he could not find the section that was cut off to reconnect to his finger, the specialists in finger surgery advised Mr. Lee to transplant the skin to help the wound heal.

Lee Spievack's finger was amputated by a fan motor
in August 2005 (Photo: ost-gazette)

But Mr. Lee was lucky .

He has a brother, Dr. Alan Spievack, founder of Acell Inc. - Biological company has prepared the above tissue regenerator. Dr. Alan advised Mr. Lee to think about skin grafting, but use this tissue regeneration test. According to Dr. Spievack's instructions, Mr. Lee has applied tissue regeneration to the wound every 2 days.

And the miracle has come . After only 4 weeks of treatment by applying the above tissue regeneration, the dead end finger has grown back to its original size. And, 4 months later, this finger looks like other fingers, full of healthy tissue and even . nails!

Mr. Lee recalled, that finger is as normal as other fingers. Only a blurred scar! Nails on that finger grow twice as fast as the nails on the other fingers. He said: ". But the thing that impressed me the most was when the weather was cold, my fingers were regenerated without any harm, while the other fingers were cracked!".

And the finger has . grown back (right) after being treated with substance
extracted from the pig bladder, the photo must be taken on 4/2/2007. (Photo: ost-gazette)

In the case of Mr. Lee, Dr. Badylak, a specialist in medical regeneration at the University of Pittsburgh, said: 'Only when under 2 years of age can humans reproduce their fingertips as in the case of Mr. Lee Spievack. In adults, it is very rare. '

According to Dr. Badylak, scientists still do not fully know what really happened in Lee Spievack's fingers. Dr. Badylak himself has discovered a rare case. In the 1980s, he used a small intestine of a dog to create a temporary aorta for his own heart.

Tissue regenerator extracted from pig bladder.(Photo: Acell Inc.)

Months later, an examination showed that the grafted intestine developed into a blood vessel that looked a lot like the aorta. Strangely, in some way the gut has reconstructed itself to have an aortic-like structure. There is only one small scar in the joint. He said: 'Since then, we have spent 20 years researching this issue.'

Expanding tissue regeneration testing

Immediately after the case of Mr. Lee, the US Department of Defense entered. Under a federal government-funded project, the test of finger-regenerating a powdered substance extracted from the bladder bladder will be carried out at the US Military Medical Research Institute in Fort Sam Houston, San. Antonio.

Under the plan, five US soldiers with dead-end fingers in Iraq will be the first to be tested. If successful, larger plans, such as regenerating both hands, feet, and even arms or legs ., will be deployed.

According to Dr. Stephen Badylak, scientific adviser at Acell Inc. and a member of the above project, tissue regenerator is a product of the biological company Acell Inc . This substance is used to heal wounds and regenerate animal tissue , such as helping horses regenerate. ligaments. This substance has also been approved by the US government for use on humans.

Dr.Stephen Badylak, a medical reconstruction specialist at the University of Pittsburgh and a scientific advisor at Acell Inc.(Photo: Acell Inc.,)

It contains a lot of collagen, a complex polymeric compound, capable of activating potential biological processes to heal wounds, promoting cell division, tissue and bone regeneration. In humans, collagen accounts for 75% of skin structure.

In the upcoming test, the surgeon will open the skin on the missing finger and apply it 3 times a week for at least 2 weeks.

Doctors will monitor the formation of new tissues as well as detect complications, if any. In the case of a well-reproduced finger, experts will check for sensitivity, motor function, and finger bone growth, if available.

If all goes well with the 5 soldiers mentioned above, the doctors will treat 5 more soldiers, and then evaluate the entire test results. The project team hopes that they will get specific results within 2 months from the start of the experiment.

Making 're- growth ' of lost organs in humans: The first step of modern medicine

However, no one can guarantee that amputated fingers can grow back into complete, articulated, slang and clawed fingers.

The team only expects the amputated fingers to grow longer, though not 1 inch (2.54 cm), but have enough blood vessels and nerves, so that the soldiers can grasp some objects. use.

Medical experts are hoping that humans have the same amazing abilities as salamanders:
Recreating lost body parts. (Photo: ost-gazette)

David Baer, ​​Director of the Soft and Bone Program of the American Institute of Regenerative Medicine and also a member of this project, said: 'Although losing a few fingers is not as heavy as losing an arm. or one leg, but if you can't grasp the object, can't hold a pen or toothbrush, then you still have a lot of difficulties in your daily activities'.

Regarding the upcoming test, he said: 'We wish to see the finger bone grow back, but we cannot know it yet.'

Dr. Alan Spievack, founder of Acell Inc (Photo: Acell Inc.)

Currently, all the experts involved in the project are hoping that a miracle will happen like Mr. Lee's case.

For years, the ability to recreate lost body parts in the life of some animals such as salamanders, starfish and deer has fascinated many scientists. Cut off one leg of the salamander, a new leg will grow after only a few weeks! A deer falls antlers every year and a brand new set of gauze is born instead.

However, in humans and most other complex organisms, the regeneration of lost parts is almost impossible, but only the healing of the wound itself. Furthermore, serious wounds that heal will leave scar tissue that is no longer functioning as well as normal tissues.

Therefore, research on finger regeneration is one of the most complex and difficult to succeed research types.

However, for many decades, scientists have made much progress in the field of regenerative medicine. With tissue regenerator by Acell Inc. In preparation, American experts are hoping to uncover the mystery of the regeneration of human body parts in the upcoming test.

Quang Thinh