Please read Dr. Grasman’s article in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology titled, “Porous biomaterial scaffolds for skeletal muscle tissue engineering.“
Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a condition whereby a loss of skeletal muscle results in impairment of both the regenerative capacity and overall functionality of the muscle. Even a small (10%–20%) loss of muscle weight can result in an overall 30%–90% loss of strength. Skeletal muscle possesses the ability to regenerate small-scale injuries through the recruitment and differentiation of satellite cells (SCs), the local progenitor cell of skeletal muscle tissue. However, once too much muscle mass has been destroyed, the tissue loses its regenerative capabilities. It is estimated that 65.8 million Americans sustain musculoskeletal injuries each year, including VML and other soft tissue injuries, and the treatment cost of these injuries surpasses 176 billion U.S. dollars. This loss of muscle can result from traumatic events such as from surgery, cancer resection, car crashes, or battlefield injuries. VML is common amongst battlefield injuries; it has been found that 54% of soldiers who have sustained an injury from the battlefield suffer from musculoskeletal injuries and from that number, 53% involve damage to soft tissue. In the population of military personnel who have been discharged because of a muscle-related condition, over 90% experienced an injury resulting in VML. To read the full article.
Porous biomaterial scaffolds for skeletal muscle tissue engineering. Kozan NG, Joshi M, Sicherer ST, Grasman JM. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Oct 3;11:1245897. PMID: 37854885 PMCID: PMC10579822 DOI: 3389/fbioe.2023.1245897