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Muscle Regeneration for Incontinence
Incontinence is a significant unmet clinical need for adults and children. Regenerative medicine and cell therapy offer promising solutions to restoring the function of muscles that provide bowel and bladder control. Early clinical studies have reported mixed results, with some studies showing no improvement in muscle function. This is likely due to the cells being delivered in a sub-optimal condition due to their manipulation outside the body and delivery as a suspension, an unnatural state for a muscle cell.
To address this, we have developed highly porous biodegradable 'TIPS' microcarriers that are used as a surface to attach patients' own muscle cells before delivering them, still anchored to microcarriers, into the defective sphincter muscle. The microcarriers are designed to slowly degrade as the muscle cells integrate with the host muscle, forming new functional tissue that will hopefully restore continence.
Professor Day is leading the UCL-coordinated AMELIE research project consisting of 13 partners from across 9 countries focussing on the development of the TIPS microcarrier therapy for the treament of faecal incontinence arising from obstetric trauma. The 5 year project started in September 2020 and is funded by the European Union Framework Programme (Horizon 2020). More details are available on the AMELIE project website (https://amelie-project.eu/). The project is a pioneering activity for UCL and has the potential for major societal impact (https://issuu.com/mediaplanetuk/docs/bladder_bowel_health).
You can make a donation towards our pioneering biomedical and regenerative medicine research towards a treatment for incontinence in adults and children here
People involved:
Professor Richard Day
UCL Translational Research Office
UCL European Research & Innovation Office
UCL Comprehensive Clinical Trials Unit
Professor Charles Knowles, Queen Mary University London
A Novel Medicial Device for Fistula Repair
Fistulas are abnormal connections between two epithelialized surfaces e.g. blood vessels, bladder, intestines, or other hollow organs. The goal of fistula surgery is to close the fistula whilst trying to avoid damage to the surrounding tissue. A range of materials have been used to fill fistulas in an attempt to promote healing but all of these have failed because the material becomes dislodged and falls out or results in an infection.
We are developing novel highly porous microspheres to overcome this problem. When packed into a fistula the microspheres provide a 'scaffold' that cells can easily grow between and into. As the microspheres slowly dissolve they are replaced by new tissue.
Funding from the Wellcome Trust has enabled GMP scale-up of our manufacturing process and testing of the microspheres as a class III medical device (the highest classification for a medical device covering high-risk products that require the greatest level of assessment) in a phase I/II first-in-man clinical safety study at UCL H.
The microspheres are UCL's first biomaterial for regenerative medicine granted approval for clinical use in a regulated device trial by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
People involved:
Dr Richard Day
UCL Translational Research Office
Mr James Crosbie, University College London Hospital
Dr William English, University College London
Dr Tom Pampiglione, University College London Hospital
Professor Charles Knowles, Queen Mary University London