TV network Xploration Station’s new series Life 2.0 recently covered how the clinical trial efforts in the laboratory of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Deputy Director Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, are changing lives with breakthroughs in regenerative medicine. The series, entitled “Body Shop,” highlighted Dr. Badylak’s patient, Keith Kaufman, and his muscle recovery following a motorcycle accident.
The accident occurred in 2002. Mr. Kaufman underwent more than a dozen surgeries to “put back together again” his right leg. However, even with all the surgeries, Mr. Kaufman had little use of the remaining muscle in his leg. Primarily his leg was used for stability and balance, not much more. When more than 20% of a muscle is damaged, the tissue can’t regenerate and a stiff scar forms in place of the missing muscle, which often leads to significant disability.
Learning about the clinical trial being conducted through the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, he contacted Dr. Badylak to see if he would be a candidate for the regenerative medicine therapy being tested. He was. His old injuries were surgically implanted with extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from pig bladder. “If you put the matrix at the site of the injury, the body’s own stem cells get recruited into that matrix and they say, ‘okay, I know where I’m at, I know what I’m supposed to do,’ and when they move into that structure, they begin to remodel it, and turn it into a structure that they want,” says Dr. Badylak. Mr. Kaufman also underwent pre- and post-operative physical therapy.
Mr. Kaufman is now back to his younger self, keeping up with his very active daughter. “I can say I went through a lot of hell to get to this point, and now, it’s blue skies again,” says Mr. Kaufman.
The full episode is available on demand through Amazon Prime video. View an excerpt here.
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