According to a study published in the journal Neurosurgery, using a new device called mechanical tissue resuscitation (MTR) to prevent cell death has been demonstrated to reduce the size and extent of damaged tissue caused by traumatic brain injury. The finding was made by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

The study was funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense.

Tested in rodents, MTR uses negative pressure in order to create an environment that encourages cell survival.

Louis C. Argenta, M.D., and Michael Morykwas, Ph.D., professors in the Department of Plastic Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery, and colleagues at Wake Forest Baptist, have been using negative pressure devices to successfully treat wounds and burns for over 15 years.

In this study, the researchers used the device to remove toxins and fluids that cause cell death from an injury site located deep within the brain.

Brain injuries sustained by blunt force, explosion or other trauma cause irreversible cell damage and cell death at the site of the impact. Injured cells, in the area surrounding the wound, release toxic substances, which cause swelling of the brain, restricting blood flow and oxygen levels, which in turn causes further extensive cell death that affects brain function.

The team set out in order to determine whether removing fluid and toxic substances from around injured brain cells could help improve survival of the damaged cells.

The researchers placed a bioengineered material matrix directly on the injured area in the brain. The device was attached to a flexible tube connected to a microcomputer vacuum pump, in order to draw fluid from the injury site over a period of 72 hours.

The researchers found that in mice treated with MTR, brain swelling, as well as release of toxic substances considerably reduce compared to untreated brain injuries.

In addition, the device helped to preserve over 50% more brain tissue in animals treated with the MTR than in non-treated animals. After conducting behavioral function tests the team found that function returned faster in rodents treated with MTR.

Argenta explained:

“We have been very gratified by the results thus far. This study demonstrates that be working together a multidisciplinary group of researchers can develop new technology that could be used one day at the hospital bedside.”

The team is currently investigation the same technology in stroke and brain hemorrhage models.

Co-author of the study, Stephen B. Tatter, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurosurgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said:

“The Department of Defense has identified this as an area that is ripe for medical advancement. We believe it will soon be ready for a clinical trial.”

Written By Grace Rattue