Grants Funded

Abstract
Using recent advances in tissue engineering and the principles behind the prefabrication of flaps, this research will compare various methods of bone formation in a capsular flap. The ultimate goal is to provide a technique to reconstruct bony defects by using a composite tissue flap engineered at a distant location and in a specific shape and then transferred to the site of the defect, thereby minimizing donor site morbidity and avoiding the limitations presented by a finite supply of autogenous bone available for grafting. From previous experiments on prefabrication and prelamination of different cell types, including urothelial cells, tracheal epithelial cells, and chondrocytes, we have found that transposing a vascular pedicle to a subcutaneously placed silicone block will result in a vascular capsule, that can be mobilized and transferred based solely on the pedicle. The capsule provides the necessary blood supply for cell growth. No study to date has investigated osteoinduction in a prefabricated vascularized capsular flap. In a clinical setting, this technique may provide another option in reconstruction of bony defects of the upper and lower extremities and the mandible due to trauma, tumor resection, or congenital abnormalities. The use of the patient's own bone marrow or adipose tissue as sources for cultured mesenchymal stem cells may represent the best option for creating new bone in the prefabrication of flaps without the morbidity associated with the harvesting of autogenous bone graft and may also prove to be more reliable in the osteoinductive process than bone graft substitutes or genetically engineered products.

Biography
Dr. Michael W. Neumeister is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Surgery and the Elvin G. Zook Endowed Chair in the Institute for Plastic Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He joined the SIU faculty in 1997. He is director of the hand surgery fellowship program, Chief of microsurgery and research, and director of the Wound Care Center, Ambulatory Care Center and the Regional Burn Unit at Memorial Medical Center. Prior to joining SIU, Neumeister completed a year fellowship in hand and microsurgery at SIU School of Medicine’s Division Plastic Surgery and a 3 month microsurgery fellowship at Harvard University’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. He completed his residency in plastic surgery at Manitoba University in Winnipeg, Manitoba and his general surgery residency at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Neumeister received his medical degree from the University of Toronto and bachelor’s in Physiology/Pharmacology from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Neumeister is board certified in plastic surgery by both the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and the American Board of Plastic Surgeons and holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Hand Surgery. Dr. Neumeister’s research interests include; tissue engineering, the role of stem cells in reconstruction, ischemia reperfusion, upper extremity reconstruction, peripheral nerve, and burn modulation.