Assessment of canine vocal fold function after injection of a new biomaterial designed to treat phonatory mucosal scarring.

Objectives: Most cases of irresolvable hoarseness are due to deficiencies in the pliability and volume of the superficial lamina propria of the phonatory mucosa. By using a US Food and Drug Administration-approved polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG), we created a novel hydrogel (PEG30) and investigated its effects on multiple vocal fold structural and functional parameters.

Methods: We injected PEG30 unilaterally into 16 normal canine vocal folds with survival times of 1 to 4 months.

Three-dimensional hydrogel model using adipose-derived stem cells for vocal fold augmentation.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) may provide a clinical option for rebuilding damaged superficial lamina propria of the vocal fold. We investigated the effects of five hydrogels (hyaluronic acid [HA], collagen, fibrin, and cogels of fibrin-collagen and fibrin-HA) on the differentiation of ASCs, with the long-term goal of establishing the conditions necessary for controlling the differentiation of ASC into the functional equivalent of superficial lamina propria fibroblasts. Human ASCs were isolated and characterized by fluorescence-activated cell sorting and real-time polymerase chain reaction.