Re: The world salutes four Israeli doctors and scientists
- From: "B'in'yamin C'r'amer" <hebesRturdz@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:54:12 +1000
"jgarbuz" <jgarbuz@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:51dca1cc-3310-47a4-95de-c8e5da98a4ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From Ynet:
Yaffa Shir-Raz
Published: 05.05.07, 22:04 / Israel Culture
Every year Newsweek magazine chooses 10 medical departments in the
world to be awarded the title "Center of Excellence". These
departments attract patients from all over the world. This year, Dr.
Eyal Gur, head of the microsurgery unit at Ichilov hospital, was
selected by the magazine as one of the world's best microsurgeons.
"Our unit focuses almost exclusively on removing bone tumors. Until a
few years ago, in order to remove a cancerous growth we needed to
sever the leg or arm. Microsurgery allows us to remove only the
segment of the bone that is affected, and replace it with a healthy
piece of the bone from elsewhere in the body.
And you believe this is the only hospital in the world achieving results, garbageguz?
St. Vincents in Sydney, have been engaged in this type of surgical activity for decades.
He puts the smile back on your face
"Yet I am most proud of a surgery that restores movement to people who
suffer from facial paralysis, be it from birth, cancer or from a viral
infection that causes nerve damage. The problem is not only
aesthetical, but functional too; smiling, speaking and eating become
quite difficult.
We perform two operations; first, we implant a nerve from the leg into
the healthy side of the face to act as an 'extension cord' which
connects to the paralyzed part of the face. Six months later, once the
nerve has reached the paralyzed cheek, we remove a tiny thigh muscle
and connect its blood vessels and nerve endings to the transplanted
nerve in the healthy cheek. After an additional six months, the
patient can smile."
The beginning
"It all started with a young Palestinian who suffered facial injury
after being involved in a car accident. The complicated operation
which Dr. Gur performed on the young man's face was a success. One
year later he has full control over his facial muscles. The story of
an Israeli doctor, who restored the face of a Palestinian boy, touched
the hearts of the editors of 'Newsweek' and found its way to the pages
of the magazine.
Dr. Gur, who suffered a severe injury while in combat during the first
Lebanon War, told Ynet: "We put our hearts and souls into every
patient, without discriminating. Before my injury, I had no political
ideals, but now I believe in peace at all costs. I am not politically
active because my work is very consuming, but if I am able to do
something to bridge the gap between the two sides, then that's my
small contribution to peace."
Sniffing out cancer
Dr. Hossam Haick, a lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Chemical
Engineering and in the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, invented an electronic nose
which can diagnose cancer. An invention that won him a 1.73 million
euro grant from the European Union.
"When I was in medical school one of my friends was diagnosed with
cancer. His illness got me thinking about developing tools to help
diagnose and treat cancer. Electronic noses have been around since the
1980s but they were very big (about the size of a small fridge) and
very expensive but not very accurate. I envisioned a smaller, cheaper
device (about $500-$1000).
"I researched the subject and heard about the EU grant two weeks
before the closing date for submittals. I worked like crazy for those
two weeks writing up the proposal.My olfactory system can diagnose
cancer by analyzing a person's breath. It is able to distinguish
between the different types of cancer and infers what stage cancer it
is. The 'nose' looks like a cellular phone with nano-size sensors and
an electronic brain. The patient blows into the nose through a small
pipe and the result is seen immediately on the screen. The sensors'
minute size - less than 100,000th of a hair - makes them extremely
sensitive and thus are able to 'smell' the changes in the chemical
composition of the exhaled breath, detecting the different
characteristics of cancer. One can program the nose to sniff any given
odor in the world.
"Cancer is usually detected at the third stage of growth (out of five
stages). At this stage a tumor has already formed. Statistics show
that when diagnosed at this stage, the recovery rate after five years
from the time of diagnosis is only 15%. The electronic nose can detect
cancer at its very first stages when there are only a few cancerous
cells, thus ensuring a survival rate of up to 90%".
Dr. Haick received the Marie Curie Prize for Scientific Excellence.
The grant is awarded by the European Union in an effort to encourage
young promising scientists. This is the first time an Israeli won this
award.
Tissue engineering
Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, a senior lecturer and researcher at the
Biomedical Engineering Faculty at the Technion - Israel Institute of
Technology, developed a method of creating muscle tissue that the body
will not reject after implantation. Dr. Levenberg was chosen by
'Scientific American' magazine as one of the 50 leading scientists in
the world.
"My doctoral thesis focused on the subject of communication between
cells: how cells 'talk' to one another and how intra-cellular signals
are passed. While working on my thesis, I read about tissue
engineering, and I was fascinated. Here was an opportunity to learn
how cells reorganize and communicate in a living organism. After
completing my thesis, I joined Professor Robert Langer, one of the
pioneers of tissue engineering at MIT as a PhD researcher. My research
evolved into practical implementation - we went from studying tissues
to creating tissues for use in medicine.
"One of the problems with engineered tissue is rejection by the
recipient. The process of penetrating blood vessels into the
transplanted tissue is slow and the tissue might die from the lack of
blood supply. For the last couple of years I've been working on
creating tissues that can generate their own blood vessels to
encourage smooth absorption.
"The first stage of my work at MIT was on muscular tissue. We
succeeded in creating muscular tissue from fetal stem cells. We
created biodegradable 'scaffolding' with a sponge-like texture and
plant stem cells in the holes of the sponge. There they reproduce and
form live tissue. Eventually, the scaffolding disintegrates and the
newly formed tissue blends completely with the living organ into which
it was transplanted. We tested successfully with animals and we proved
that our method improves the absorption of implants."
'Scientific American' is recognized as the most prestigious scientific
publication and since its inception in 1845 it has published articles
by more than 100 Nobel Prize laureates. John Rennie, the editor-in-
chief writes: "Our publication chose the individuals or organizations
that promote science and technology and lay the groundwork for a
better future."
"I am motivated to continue my work and to further our ability to
create muscular tissues for implanting and for treating diseases such
as muscular atrophy," said Dr. Levenberg.
Mending 'broken' hearts
Professor Lior Gepstein, Head of the Cardiovascular Research
Laboratory in the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion - Israel
Institute of Technology and a lecturer in the Physiology Department,
received the American College of Cardiology's Zipes Award for his
development of heart cells and pacemakers from stem cells.
"Congestive heart failure is the main cause for hospitalization; more
so than all the cases of cancer put together. Fifty percent of
patients die from heart failure within 5 years of diagnosis. In cases
of severe heart disease, the only available solution is a heart
transplant. During the last few years, a new concept of treating heart
disease is being developed whereby the damaged tissue is replaced by
new tissue that has been produced from embryonic stem cells. This is
what I am working on.
"About seven years ago, we succeeded in creating mature stem cells
from embryonic stem cells. We were the first in the world to do that.
We realized that these cells had the make up of young heart cells;
with the same electrical activity and cardiac rhythms. We were very
pleased - if these cells look and sound like heart cells, then they
probably are.
"Subsequently, we proved that these cells act in unison - a miniature
heart of sorts - including an area that functions as a pacemaker. We
tested the cells by placing them next to a rat's heart cells: The two
tissues' electric activity was synchronized within just a couple of
hours. The next stage of the research, which has not been published
yet, consisted of implanting the human heart cells we created into the
heart of a rat which has congestive heart failure. We saw that the
implanted cells integrated into the heart and improved its cardiac
activity.
"I'm also working on developing a pacemaker that will replace the
artificial ones currently used. We plan on developing the ability to
create a biological version which will be implanted into the patient's
body using a catheter. We tested this idea on pigs with abnormally
slow heart rate and discovered that the injected cells improved the
heart rate, functioning as biological pacemakers.
"Although we have had impressive results, we are still a far way away
from using this technique on humans. Even so, I believe that we will
be seeing experimental treatment with patients in about 10 years
time".
The Zipes Award granted by the American College of Cardiology is known
as a most prestigious award in its field. "Professor Gepstein is a
brilliant research doctor. His scientific achievements in mapping the
electric activity of the heart and in stem cell research are of the
highest standard for which he deserves this award," the award
committee wrote.
.
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- The world salutes four Israeli doctors and scientists
- From: jgarbuz
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