Bombing Injury Leads to Stepping Strong Fund, Award

• Dr. Matthew Carty. Dr. Carty's project entails a new surgical approach to lower limb amputation that he believes will enable patients to interface with next-generation prostheses to restore fine movement, sensation and proprioception—in essence, to recover normal limb function. The development of a new operative technique for limb amputation could one day become the new standard of care.
• Dr. Edward Caterson. Dr. Caterson's team is developing a polyurethane wound chamber that completely encloses wounds of all sizes, including the entire extremity. The chamber enables antibiotics to be delivered in ultra-high concentrations—both at the site of injury and the site most at risk of bacterial contamination.
• Dr. Indranil Sinha. The final project, from Dr. Sinha, focuses on using the body’s own stem cells to help muscles heal following traumatic injuries. Major breakthroughs in muscle stem cell research have allowed researchers to isolate muscle stem cells from a small biopsy and help them grow quickly in a laboratory setting. These cells can then be injected back into healing muscle to maintain muscle strength and function.

The voting period lasts until Nov. 20. Visit www.BWHgiving.org/innovators and watch an introductory video from Gillian Reny that highlights the finalists and their innovations. The site also has more detailed accounts of the technologies.