Off-the-Shelf Implant to Bridge a Urethral Defect: Multicenter 8-Year Journey From Bench to Bed.

Objective: To engineer an acellular mesh to reconstruct the urethra to replace the current surgical practice of using autologous tissue grafts. Cell based approaches have shown progress. However, these have been associated with high costs and logistical challenges.

Assess, adapt and act: a paediatric surgery division's initial approach in a rapidly evolving pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented test on the delivery and management of healthcare services globally. This study describes the adaptive measures taken and evolving roles of the members of the paediatric surgery division in a developing country during this period.

Methods: We adopted multiple adaptive strategies including changes to stratification of surgeries, out-patient services by urgency and hospital alert status, policy writing involving multidisciplinary teams, and redeployment of manpower.

Quantitative intrinsic auto-cathodoluminescence can resolve spectral signatures of tissue-isolated collagen extracellular matrix.

By analyzing isolated collagen gel samples, we demonstrated in situ detection of spectrally deconvoluted auto-cathodoluminescence signatures of specific molecular content with precise spatial localization over a maximum field of view of 300 µm. Correlation of the secondary electron and the hyperspectral images proved ~40 nm resolution in the optical channel, obtained due to a short carrier diffusion length, suppressed by fibril dimensions and poor electrical conductivity specific to their organic composition. By correlating spectrally analyzed auto-cathodoluminescence with mass spectroscopy data, we differentiated spectral signatures of two extracellular matrices, namely human fibrin complex and rat tail collagen isolate, and uncovered differences in protein distributions of isolated extracellular matrix networks of heterogeneous populations.

Engineered acellular collagen scaffold for endogenous cell guidance, a novel approach in urethral regeneration.

Unlabelled: The treatment of congenital malformations or injuries of the urethra using existing autologous tissues can be associated with post-operative complications. Using rat-tail collagen, we have engineered an acellular high-density collagen tube. These tubes were made of 2 layers and they could sustain greater burst pressures than the monolayered tubes.