Researcher from Sanford Health are working to discover if stem cells can help to heal shoulder injuries.  They are running an FDA-approved trial which will test the ability of stem cells obtained from abdominal fat to heal tissue.  The trial will involve 18 patients from North Dakota.

One of the patients involved in the trial is Mike Duncan.  He was recently diagnosed as having a tear in his rotator cuff, which prevents him from moving his right shoulder fully.  Mike has received an injection as a part of the trial, but he does not know if it is a stem cell transfusion or a placebo.

Duncan actually works for Sanford Health as a director of pharmacy and has been involved in clinical trials for many years.  However, this is the first trial that he has actively participated in.

The project manager of the trial, Dr. Weiss, described the procedure: “So we have a big plastic bag of different types of surgical equipment just varying from sterile drapes, varying syringes, a scalpel, some liquid stitches, different needles,” Weiss continued. “But essentially they harvest the lipoaspirate – or the fat – with a syringe and a really long cannula, or another way to say that would be blunt needle, but after they’ve numbed the abdominal area.”

The fat is processed to remove the stem cells before being re-injected into the patient.  Once injected into the injured shoulder of the patient, it is hoped the stem cells will recognise the injury and begin to repair it.  The injection will be made very precisely, with the help of an ultrasound device.

If the trial is a success, it could be an excellent alternative to invasive shoulder surgery.

Source: Innovation: Stem Cells For Shoulder Injuries

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