Urinary Tract
The embarrassment of urinary incontinence can cause isolation and loneliness, and reduce independence and self-confidence. It's one of the top reasons why seniors move to nursing homes. A common treatment is the injection of collagen into the bladder sphincter to add bulk to it, but the collagen is eventually absorbed and sometimes causes an allergic reaction. McGowan Institute researchers have a better way to restore control, and it's currently being studied in women at two Canadian centers. Researchers take a small muscle biopsy from the thigh of each woman, isolate the stem cells, and nurture them in the lab as they multiply. Within a few weeks there are enough cells to be injected into the bladder sphincter.
Another common treatment for urinary incontinence is to fashion a new support for the bladder, which can lose some of its support after pregnancy and childbirth. Traditionally, the new support material comes from tissue in the patient's abdomen, but this can add time and expense to the operation. Other options are donor materials, which can be difficult to obtain, or synthetics, which can be rejected or cause infection. Instead, UPMC physicians use a regenerative medicine treatment called SIS, a natural scaffold that degrades as it is replaced by strong, healthy new tissue.