Bio-engineered bladders
Researchers hope to help people with bladder problems
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Wednesday, 01, Aug 2007 11:42
Scientists are embarking on research which could result in a new type of bio-engineered bladders being made to help restore continence to patients with serious bladder conditions.
Substitute bladders are currently created by using a section of the patient's bowel, but they can lead to complications as the bowel does not have the same urine-holding properties as real bladders.
Researchers from the University of York are studying the special cells, known as urothelial cells, that line the bladder and enable it to hold urine.
They have found that if the bladder is damaged the urothelial cells are able to rapidly re-grow to repair the wound.
Lead researcher Professor Jenny Southgate said that one solution could be to line a section of the bowel with urothelial cells to reduce the number of complications.
In the long-term the team hopes to create engineered bladder tissue ready for implantation.
"Our most exciting work moving forward is to develop natural and synthetic biomaterials that could be combined with regenerating urothelial cells," Professor Southgate said.
"This has the potential to produce viable bladder tissue for transplant into patients who need replacement bladders."