Transplantation of cells in an immunoisolation device for gene therapy.
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Biomedical subjects
J Crudele
Publications and source records attributed to J Crudele.
Neovascularization of synthetic membranes directed by membrane microarchitecture.
Transplantation of tissues enclosed within a membrane device designed to protect the cells from immune rejection (immunoisolation) provides an opportunity to treat a variety of disease conditions. Successful implementation of immunoisolation has been hampered by the foreign-body reaction to biomaterials. We screened a variety of commercially available membranes for foreign-body reactions following implantation under the skin of rats. Histologic analysis revealed that neovascularization at the membrane-tissue interface occurred in several membranes that had pore sizes large enough to allow complete penetration by host cells (0.8-8 microns pore size). When the vascularization of the membrane-tissue interface of 5-microns-pore-size polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes was compared to 0.02-microns-pore-size PTFE membranes, it was found that the larger pore membranes had 80-100-fold more vascular structures. The increased vascularization was observed even though the larger pore membrane was laminated to a smaller pore inner membrane to prevent cell entry into the prototype immunoisolation device. This significantly higher level of vascularization was maintained for 1 year in the subcutaneous site in rats.
Animals↗
Systems integration: tying it all together.
Healthcare organizations' changing priorities have created needs for new information systems, as well as a demand for better integration of existing systems. Ten years ago, data processing concentrated on general and patient accounting, payroll, and accounts payable. Today, automated systems have to be able to gather data from several different systems to help in the added areas of patient care, cost management, and marketing. Making the transition from a manual to a truly integrated system is a gradual process, but will realize long-term benefits such as increased system efficiency, improved patient care, and better strategic business support. Before taking this step, healthcare executives need to know the typical problems that may occur with integration and what factors to consider before developing an integrated system.
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