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Center to speed new medical tech to war zones

Concerned that badly needed medical technology isn’t making it to the combat zones quickly enough, the Georgia Institute of Technology on Tuesday unveiled a new center designed to improve that process.

The Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Bioengineering for Soldier Survivability will concentrate on techniques that will reduce infection, rebuild bone and reconnect tissues.

Although researchers across the nation already are trying to develop new techniques, it takes a while for that information to get to military physicians. The idea is to speed that process by having a clinician with combat experience team up with engineers and scientists who already work at Georgia Tech.

“The goal of the center is to rapidly move new technologies from the laboratory to patients so that we can improve the quality of life for our veterans as they return from the wars the United States is fighting,” said Barbara Boyan, director of the new center.

Researchers hope to discover everything from the optimal times to perform different treatments to what works best on both male and female patients to how best to connect tissue filled with nerves, blood veins and multiple cell types. They also will research how to prevent new bone growth in soft tissue, as sometimes happens in amputees, and how stem cells can improve tissue regeneration.

The new center is funded by the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the Army Institute of Surgical Research’s Orthopedic Trauma Research Program, and the Defense Department.