As promised we’re back with more on the apparatus of Harvard Apparatus. In our last blog we talked about the mechanical syringe pump and the Ex Vivo Profusion System, but now we’re looking into the bioreactors used by researchers to advance their abilities to create synthetic organs in the future.

Once they discovered that their technologies could be used to regenerate organs, Harvard Apparatus began research and development into the ways to improve the bioreactors for regenerative medicine. They started to develop bioreactors in all different sizes and shapes for each organ. For example, there have been all different shapes of tracheas needed for transplantation and Harvard Apparatus has been able to create bioreactors that can accommodate individual trachea.

The InBreath™ Bioreactor goes inside of an incubator to maintain a sterile field in an environment required to help to grow the organ. Also, the InBreath™ Bioreactor enables the stem cells that are growing to be stimulated in a manner similar to that in the body. Inside of the bioreactor, the cells are exposed to both a liquid environment that resembles the mucous that the trachea is exposed to and the air environment that as a windpipe the trachea would experience. This helps the stem cells to grow and differentiate into the correct type of cells by stimulating them.

But how do you know when an organ is ready? Harvard Apparatus thought about this too. There is no alternative to the experience of a world leading surgeon. They supplement this with the ability to measure certain metrics of the physiology of organs. The surgeon can manipulate the trachea and monitor the metrics and decide when the organ is ready to be transplanted.

But that’s all for now, check back next time for more about the technologies brought to us by Harvard Apparatus. Let us know what you think so far @TRA360!

Ready for more regenerative medicine? We visited with the technical staff at the Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology group of Harvard Bioscience. Harvard Bioscience is a Holliston, MA based company that provides technology used throughout the field of regenerative medicine. The current management took the company from a $10 M to $110 M in the last 15 years, that’s more than a tenfold increase. As important as their net worth is, that isn’t what’s most important at this company. Harvard Bioscience strives to make the best possible equipment for the scientists who use their technology and reduce their research time.

Harvard Apparatus has two major technologies that are advancing science right now. The first is a clinical infusion syringe pump targeting the safety and accuracy of delivering medicine to patients in hospitals. When liquids need to be delivered at a constant and precise volume per unit of time, especially when the volumes are low, injection by hand is ineffective. Harvard Apparatus is the world leader in high precision research syringe pumps allowing doses as low as microliters per minute over an extended period of time at a programmable rate. This is combined with technology to maintain cells allowing precise delivery in cellular therapy applications such as injecting stem cells.

They also are optimizing an ex vivo isolated organ perfusion system. This system allows organs to be maintained outside the body and the effects of new drugs and treatments tested on actual organs.  

These technologies may not suggest regenerative medicine from first glance, so how did they get started with regenerative medicine? President David Green identified regenerative medicine as a possible new field to enter based on the technologies already being pioneered by the company. The Ex Vivo Profusion System as they knew it was a Bioreactor to some of their customers. The ability to keep organs alive outside of the body enabled the decellularization of organs—taking all of the donor cells out to enable stem cells from the patient to grow within the scaffolding of the organ and become a new organ. Combining collaboration with leading scientists and additional R&D on their Bioreactors, the company identified and are implementing what scientists and researchers need to advance research.

Want to know more about the bioreactors and what else Harvard Apparatus has to offer? Come check out our next few posts on their technology and how it’s being applied today. What do you think about bioreactors and their syringe pump? Let us know @TRA360!

After learning about the work of Dr. Geraldine Hamilton and her Wyss Institute research team at the BIO International Conference, we wanted to learn more about the strides being made in medicine now that represent the future. We stumbled across the idea of regenerative medicine and found the field incredibly interesting, and hope you do as well.

“The aim of regenerative medicine is to regenerate more fundamentally by the provision of cells, particularly stem cells that can stimulate wider regeneration.” This definition from the Future Science Group provides a scientifically accurate summary of the work in the field of regenerative medicine. But what does any of this actually mean to you and me? In more understandable words, the goal of regenerative medicine is to provide organs and tissue that can eventually be used to cure innumerable diseases.

Again I ask, what does any of this have to do with the average person? Personally, I’m not in any state of critical health, so what impact does regenerative medicine have on my life? For a holistic perspective, you have to think of your entire family and your peers. Three people come into my head immediately: one with diabetes, one with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and one with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I am fortunate that I do not have immediate family or friends that are waiting for a kidney, heart, or lung transplant in order to survive.

Current research conducted by scientists in regenerative medicine could someday find a cure for the diseases that impact my family, friend, and many others. Just imagine it—diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries—could all be completely curable, the possibilities are endless. Even more than just the curing of diseases, millions of lives could be saved by creating these organs. Everyday 18 people die awaiting an organ transplant. That’s 6,570 individuals every year. Each of these people is someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, cousin, or other loved one. Regenerative medicine could save some of these lives.

In the next few posts we are going to profile some companies and the work they’re doing in the field of regenerative medicine. If you know someone who works in regenerative medicine, or would like to be featured yourself, contact us!