The Plastic Surgery Foundation
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Grants We Funded

Grant applicants for the 2023 cycle requested a total of nearly $4 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated nearly 140 grant applications on the following topics:

The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $1 million dollars to support nearly 30 plastic surgery research proposals.

ASPS/PSF leadership is committed to continuing to provide high levels of investigator-initiated research support to ensure that plastic surgeons have the needed research resources to be pioneers and innovators in advancing the practice of medicine.

Research Abstracts

Search The PSF database to have easy access to full-text grant abstracts from past PSF-funded research projects 2003 to present. All abstracts are the work of the Principal Investigators and were retrieved from their PSF grant applications. Several different filters may be applied to locate abstracts specific to a particular focus area or PSF funding mechanism.

Intraoperative Imaging of Mastectomy Skin Flaps for Breast Reconstruction

Principal Investigator
Lesley Wong MD

Year
2017

Institution
University of Kentucky Research Foundation

Funding Mechanism
National Endowment for Plastic Surgery Grant

Focus Area
Breast (Cosmetic / Reconstructive), Technology Based

Abstract
Of the 1 in 8 U.S. women who will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their liftime, 35-40% will be treated with a mastectomy. Over one-third of these women will seek breast reconstruction. Mastectomy skin flap necrosis is the most common complication following implant based reconstruction after mastectomy with incidence rates that approach 20%. Several sequlae include infection, implant exposure and subsequent loss. These all appear to be interrelated by alterations and decreases in blood flow. A non-contact technology, non-contact speckle contrast diffuse correlation tomography (scDCT) enables 3D imaging of blood flow distributions in deep tissue, at up to 1.5 cm in depth. Our pilot studies with non contact diffuse correlation spectroscopy demonstrated the feasibility for the perioperative monitoring and prediction of mastecomy skin flap necrosis. While the DCS technology is very effective, there are several limitations. The entire area of interest over the breast mound has to be mechanically scanned for complete coverage, and this can take up to 40 minutes, which is not feasible in the intraoperative setting. Due to ths, in our pilot studies, data obtained was over only 2-3 areas of interest adjacent to the incision over the breast skin. This method of assessment severely limits the ability to obtain a global view of mastectomy skin flap perfusion and blood flow. Non-contact scDCT allows for rapid high-resolution 3D imaging in deep tissues. The objective of this study is to optimize and utilize this novel scDCT in the clinical setting for the perioperative assessment of blood flow and oxygen distribution of mastectomy skin flaps. Quantitive assessment will be used to determine the ability of the scDCT device to predict mastectomy skin flap necrosis after the mastectomy. Additionally, comparisons will be done between 3D data obtained at the 3 time-points – before the mastectomy, after the mastectomy and after the reconstruction. If successful, our results will provide the rationale and framework needed for designing optical-imaging-guided clinical trials of mastectomy and reconstruction, which may ultimately revolutionize individual breast reconstruction and reduce overall rates of mastectomy skin flap necrosis rates, subsequent cost to the healthcare system and reconstruction failure.

Biography
Lesley Wong, MD, FACS is a faculty member in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. She completed her general surgery residency at the New York University School of Medicine and her plastic surgery residency at the University of Maryland/Johns Hopkins University Combined Program in Plastic Surgery. She maintains a broad clinical practice in many aspects of plastic surgery with research interests in breast surgery and wound healing. This study involves a partnership with the University of Kentucky Department of Biomedical Engineering.