Formulation of a novel suspending medium for immobilised culture and tissue processing

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Bone damage following blast or ballistic wounding results in the mechanic destruction and death of tissue at the site of injury. Surgeons debride away the tissue, removing any necrotic regions and this generally enables complete regeneration of the defect. At present, however, nobody knows the nature of damage to the tissue, as it is not possible to evaluate structure or cell response in the hard boney fragments. Our hypothesis is that high energy impact in the bone results in destruction of the osteocytic network that penetrates through it. Currently there are no methods that enable full characterisation of such fragments in anatomically relevant positions within the fracture.This project will seek to refine the supporting medium so that it is possible to maintain vital tissue in suspended culture. Doing this will allow us to evaluate the capacity of the tissue to heal in an anatomically representative environment. The student will have to manufacture a supporting phase that can mediate oxygen and nutrient transport while supporting the suspension of a relatively dense tissue [3]. The ultimate aim will be to incorporate these new materials into a novel tissue processing methodology called CLARITY, which will allow us to visual the distribution of the osteocyte network within the fracture fragments.