Lee Spievak, who lost part of his finger, would never have thought he would be the center of a medical miracle and in the media seen as “man regrows finger.” Working behind the counter of a model aeroplane shop, Mr Spievak put his finger into the rotating propeller of the model aeroplane, when he was not looking, resulting of the tip of his finger down to some of the bone sliced off.
The part lost was the top of the finger down to the nail bed. Some of the nail bed was still there and this is one of the reasons he was able to regrow his finger back as I write about on nail stem cell research.
Like most patients the doctors told him he had lost it for good. However, he had an ace up his sleeve. Lee’s brother worked in the field of regenerative medicine and was researching on a powder that he had extracted from pigs bladder.
Pig’s Bladder – Pixie Dust?
When Lee told his brother Alan about what happened, his brother sent him an extract of this powder with instructions of how to use it. The result was Lee’s finger tip growing back in a few weeks.
How is that possible? Well this ‘Pixie Dust’ as Lee calls it is a substance known by Scientists as Extracellular Matrix (ECM) and it seems to be the glue that binds everything together in the body at a cellular level.
Pigs Bladder is highly abundant with ECM so it is easier for the scientists to extract this and use it in medical applications. The bladder of pigs is cleaned and processed so that the DNA of the pig is removed and only the ECM is left which can then be converted into a product in powder form, a scaffolding or as a glue substance that can be injected into the body.
For around 10 days, Lee’s brother instructed him to put a small amount of the powder on the open wound of his finger, making sure it was clean before hand and then cover up the wound. He would do this procedure for each day until his finger tip regenerated.
It took about for weeks for his finger to regrow and for the wound to close. In about 3 months his finger has completely regrown with bone, flesh and nail along with the finger print and feeling.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine
This powder or extra cellular matrix is produced and research in the lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, along with other institutes around the world.
The research is being lead by Dr Stephen Badylak, one of the visionaries in regenerative medicine and they have done a lot of work for the US Military for injured troops coming back home from wars overseas.
Dr. Badylak is a Professor in the Department of Surgery and is the deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (MIRM). He is also the director for the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering inside the Institute.
I am aware of two areas that they have been focusing on. Firstly digit extension, where they have been attempting to stimulate partial regrowth in fingers that have been lost below the nail.
In order to improve the quality of the patient’s life, if they can stimulate just a small amount of regeneration in the fingers, then this can make all the difference for the patient in being able to hold a cup of coffee with both hands. The ECM powder cannot regenerate a whole finger that has been lost, at least not yet. This only seems to work when part of the nail bed is intact on the finger tip.
Based on some documentaries on treating military patients, during an operation the surgeon will open up the stump of the amputated fingers and place this experimental powder on the open flesh and bone. They will then stitch the wound back up and then study if any of the bone has grown slightly.
The other area is the treatment of burns where instead of skin grafting, a novel skin spray gun has been developed that contains the patients skin stem cells, that are sprayed on to the area that is being treated for burns. I will be writing a separate article about this as the results are truly impressive based on what I have seen.
The following presentation by Dr. Stephen Badlyak, is a truly fascinating talk about his research including limb regeneration and tissue engineering. He also discusses some of the challenges with the transition of the conventional standard of care and applying new tissue engineering treatments to the patient.
How Does Extracellular Matrix Treatment Work?
Scientists feel that when the extracellular matrix powder is put on to the open wound of the lost finger tip, it instructs the body to attract the stem cells which then proceed to regenerate instead of forming a scar.
I have seen applications where ECM has been used for making a scaffolding of part of a wind pipe, and other parts of the body. The process works by stitching the scaffold on to the area inside the body being treated to replace what is missing. The stem cells are attracted to the ECM scaffold and eventually the scaffold dissolves, resulting in the new missing tissue being generated.
Clinical Trials
In the video above, Dr Badylak was discussing some of the trials they have been doing on those whom had cancer of the oesophagus with amazing success.
When the oesophagus is removed the quality and mortality rate of the patient is dropped considerably. However what they have done is using the ECM scaffold that regenerates the oesophagus. Basically, they place the extracellular matrix scaffold into the area where the portion of oesophagus has been removed. The stem cells are instructed to regenerate the cells around the scaffold to regrow the missing part.
Could Limbs Be Regrown?
So if medicine is smart enough to do this could we not regrow a whole limb? In a media report, Dr Badylak says perhaps but its early days, however, they feel the technology has the potential to revolutionise.
In 2008 when a lot of this was made public in the media, he points out that perhaps in 10 years, new strategies will be developed that regenerate the bones and promote the growth of functional tissue around those bones. That would be a major step towards limb regeneration using this kind of technology.
It is this kind of talk that gets the military interested and they have been working with injured soldiers in an attempt to regrow part of the fingers as mentioned above. I believe this is all connected into a larger project with DARPA (Defence Advance Research Projects Agency) who back in 2008 setup AFIRM (Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine). I will be discussing about this soon.
Another project is the case of military soldiers who have had a large section of their leg muscle blown off. In the case of Marine Isaias Hernandez (mentioned in the video) who lost 70% of his right thigh muscle when a mortar exploded in Afghanistan. Under conventional treatment with such severe damage the doctors would have removed his leg as it would not be able to heal correctly.
However, with the result of a 90 million dollar research project, the extracellular matrix in a gel form was injected into this thigh muscle. Along with a course of physiotherapy to build up the strength in the leg, after several weeks the muscle and even skeletal tissue started to regenerate and he has regained full use of his leg. He is even well enough to return back to service although not in combat.
Note a lot of what I have discussed here was based on research that was made public in the media back in 2008 so much will have progressed since then. Dr. Badylak’s talk above was given in 2011.
I will be doing follow up articles based on their latest findings. Much of their research with the treatment of burns in trials has proven successful and has now started to filter into the civilian population.
Monika Gupta says
25th March 2016 at 4:46 AMCan it be used for a person suffering with paralysis due to head injury.
Alexander says
3rd April 2016 at 6:52 AMHi Monika,
The company that makes ECM is ACell, and it has a variety of uses. But I am not sure if it is used or could be for the kind of injury and condition you describe. I would have thought that it would be more stem cell research from the embryonic stage and adult stem cells.
I know that scientists are working hard in regenerative medicine when it comes to spinal cord regeneration.
Can you describe the head injury more? Is it something that you have had yourself?
If I find out more information on this I will update you here. However, please let me know more information on the injury you describe, and I would like to help you in anyway I can.
Thanks,
Alexander.
Monika Gupta says
3rd April 2016 at 8:20 AMMy daughter had a road traffic accident almost two years ago. She suffered from an epidural hematoma which was evacuated surgically following which she suffered from left -sided hemiparesis and left facial nerve palsy. Her motor power has improved over the last two years but she still has left sided footdrop as well as wrist drop. She’s taking regular physiotherapy as of now. Please suggest what should i do further?
Alexander says
4th April 2016 at 4:40 PMHi Monika,
So sorry about your daughter’s accident and injury but good that there is some improvement.
I have provided a link below to a group of scientists whom may be able to look at your daughter’s injuries. This is the same people whom work with Dr Stephen Badylak on clinical trials in different areas for new innovative treatments in regenerative medicine.
This is Dr Stephen Badylak’s Laboratory page, showing what they do.
Stephen Badylak Laboratories
And their contact details, showing how to contact them.
Stephen Badylak Laboratories – Contact Us
They might be able to give further information for you and if they can help your daughter.
Please let me know how you get on and if I can help you further in anyway.
Thanks,
Alexander.
Billy Uttz says
6th June 2016 at 4:00 PMI’m having basal cell cancer removed from my nose in a few weeks. Is there anything available in the market that would help with the healing and reduce scare tissue.
DON says
7th May 2016 at 8:05 PMI could sure use a new tip, after all these years. When I was 16 I got my right index finger in a chain and sprocket and it nipped off the end of it. When I saw the tip up there I simply pulled it out, Looked at it, and tossed it. I spent nine days in the hospital because of both my stupid actions.
But now at age 65, though I still have very good ‘system’ in terms of the ability to heal, I wonder if this would do me any good.
After they begin regeneration of full limbs, I could also use a couple of full digits on my other hand.
LOL I’ve been a bit careless in my past years!
DON
Alexander says
28th May 2016 at 3:56 AMHi DON,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I’m sorry about your injuries and I hope things are now going okay for you. One day you will be able to regenerate but when this will be I am not certain. However, there is a new breakthrough stem cell research that empowers salamander regenerative characteristics with regrowth of bone and tissue. Its expected to go to trial in 2017 and I am writing up about this and will post this over the next couple of days.
I think people’s regenerative abilities are different for different people and perhaps that is why you have good healing abilities and others will have less. Perhaps people with well developed and healthy larger nails could have more powerful regenerative abilities.
Its worth wondering if this is related to those whom can do energy healing or laying on of hands healing energy work. Since their hands and finger nails are well developed.
There is an interesting lady I knew a few years back in Europe whom is well respected with her work as an energy healer. Note, this is not new age or some religious spiritual belief systems but based on pure energy and actual science. She is well respected in the health and science community with those whom acknowledge her work. If I can find out her name I will right about it.
I mention it as I feel there is something within this research that can provide powerful information for regeneration. With the understanding of the Electric Body or what can be called the Etheric body, when a limb is lost a phantom limb is experienced by the patient.
It is not a phantom limb but the actual etheric limb which then adopts to the new physical changes and eventually the etheric limb disappears. So the patient is not imagining it, but of what is actually there. They can also experience burning and tingling sensation. For scientists to dismiss the experience of the phantom limb as a product of the patient’s imagination is ludicrous.
With a deeper understanding of the Etheric / Electric body and how to stimulate the etheric level, we could potentially learn how to regrow back the missing limb.
I will gather some material and research on this with what I already know and wright about it.
I would say that regeneration of full digits should be coming soon and would likely happen before full limb regeneration, which I hear some scientists specializing in this area, say in about 10 or 15 years.
The new breakthrough stem cell salamander-like regeneration that I mentioned above, with trials starting in 2017, human limb regeneration might be here sooner than we think.
Thanks,
Alexander.
Nathan phan says
3rd August 2016 at 11:11 AMThree of my fingers were amputated in a machine at work, do,you think in the future my fingers can grow back??
I am suffereing depression, coldness in my fingers and loss if function. I cry every night and just wish i had my fingers back, how can i afford such treatment it would be a wish come true.
Sir, how can i keep updated on your work and also the profression? Isthere a facebook site or personal email i can have.
Also i am looking forward for human limb regeneration.
Nathan
Mike says
14th August 2016 at 12:07 PMWish you the best Nathan, I lost the tip of my left ring finger, and it is quite depressing. I know insurance can help in getting people prosthetic silicone replacements…
http://www.medicalartresources.com/services-directory/finger-toe-2/
I too am trying to find what you’re looking for, best of luck my friend. God bless.
Alexander says
22nd February 2017 at 2:37 AMHi Nathan,
I am really sorry to hear that about your injury and loss of your fingers. To answer your question yes this will be possible eventually and I know scientists would not be working as hard as they are if it was not possible. It will certainly happen in our lifetime.
I would say by 2025 – 2030 major discoveries will have happened where we will have a clear picture of where we are at. If you like you can read up about the following article I wrote up about the plan to regrow human limbs for amputees by 2030. Article: Powerful New Initiative To Regrow Human Limbs By 2030
I think the first break through would come from toes and fingers before more complex like a whole limb being regrown. But if the body can be stimulated to regrow a finger then perhaps the same process would also regenerate a whole limb by changing the default mechanism of how the body responds to a traumatic injury.
By the way I hope you were greatly compensated for a lifetime for what happened to you at work!
I will be creating a free newsletter for you that you can sign up with to receive regular updates. I also have plans to create a discussion forum that will allow people to interact, share experiences and ask questions. In addition to looking up a knowledge base of frequently asked questions.
At the moment however, you can contact me direct anytime by using the contact me page.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and please do keep in touch.
You can also contact me on Facebook at: Human Limb Regeneration
Thanks,
Alexander.
Christian Bakogiannis says
9th August 2016 at 6:24 AMHello, my name is Christian Bakogiannis. I am watching my father die from ALS. I was wondering if there is a way to turn this into an IV drip that could be used to “wash” his nervous system to regenerate his lost nerves? It has started to impact his lungs now. This is a miracle question, but in my limited mind, I see no real difference in regrowing his nerves. Please advise. Thank you!
Nathan says
17th November 2016 at 8:45 PMI have had my 2nd , 3rd and 4th finger amputated at work more than half way gone, if this really works i really want my fingers back. i want to be normal again i am so sad everyday when i look at my hands. God bless you and your team. i hope to hear from you, i live in Australia. please help me
Chris Rutherford says
28th November 2016 at 2:14 PMI have a Volkmann’s contracture of my right forearm/hand. I have very limited mobility/use of the hand which makes daily life difficult (can’t button shirts, hold a cup, use a pencil, zip a coat, etc….). Would this be something that may work for me? Please let me know as I have been searching for a possible solution for a couple years now and thank you for your amazing research!
saurav singh says
2nd March 2017 at 5:18 AMSir from where i can get this medicine for regenerating my finger
John Zufall says
3rd March 2017 at 11:53 PMMy wife, Brenda, is a UPMC Presby patient. In 2008 she had a left lung transplant. She had a period where her lungs had interstitial inflamation followed by scaring severely reducing oxygen perfusion.. Prior to that she had a left breast lumpectomy and radiation.afterward, She took Tamoxofin for three plus years and.its possible that this may have caused the inflamation. The Tamoxofin was discontinued but damage to the lungs was extensive. She was evaluated for a double lung transplant, but after being cut and prepped for double lung, she ended up with a single lung transplant due to donor’s right lung was no better than her own.. Now, eight years later, she’s having some rejection. She’s currently being evaluated for a right lung transplant and is close to being put on the transplant list. My question is, is regeneration of a lung being explored? She is currently a patient of Dr. Bruce Johnson and sees him at Falk Clinic. I’m very hopeful. She is 53 years old and active.
Alexander says
10th January 2018 at 4:44 PMThank you John for your comments and the detailed information about the condition of your wife. Was she able to get a lung transplant for her right lung? I hope your wife is making good progress.
Yes, Lung Regeneration is certainly being explored and worked on by scientists.
Regenerative medicine has the potential to provide many new kind of treatments for people with lung diseases.
The respiratory system of a human is extremely complex and I think scientists feel that the regeneration of a lung from a single stem cell would be challenging to conceive.
I think I have seen a documentary where lungs from a rat was grown in the lab but it was not living. So efforts are in motion with researchers to understand how to regrow a new lung in the lab or rebuild it in some other way.
The ultimate goal is to create a new lung that would not get rejected by the patient when it is placed inside.
I have provided some articles below for your interest on Lung Regeneration. Also like Breast Regeneration it is something I will look into to write about on this blog.
Regeneration of the lung: Lung stem cells and the development of lung mimicking devices
https://respiratory-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12931-016-0358-z
Lung Regeneration
http://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/center-regenerative-medicine/focus-areas/lung-regeneration
Lung regeneration: mechanisms, applications and emerging stem cell populations
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229034/
Best regards,
Alexander.
Shanna Strode says
26th November 2017 at 5:39 PMHello,
My name is Shanna and I am 27 years old, and when I was a year and a week old, I scalded my right hand with a boiling pot of water and have damage to my fingers and nail beds on that hand, excluding my thumb. I saw a show called Worlds Strangest, season 1, episode 3: inventions, and learned about this man who’s finger regrew with the nailbed and finger print in tact. My nail beds are severely damaged, and I have no finger print currently on my index finger and half of a finger print on my middle finger. This has been an issue that has bothered me my whole life, and I was hoping to find out about any kind of clinical trials or anything that I may be able to participate in.
I have had several z plasty’s on my hand over the years, but the tips of my fingers and nailbeds haven’t seen any improvement. Watching the show, I found myself in tears, just full of hope that someone might be able to help me finally.
If there is any information you can provide me about further studies or trials I could participate in, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for your time.
Best,
Shanna
Alexander says
2nd December 2017 at 10:25 AMHi Shanna,
Thank you for reaching out with your questions. I am sorry about your injuries.
It is possible to regenerate the finger tips if some of the nail bed is in place. However, that depends on a number of factors such as if any surgery treatment was done to the initial injury and how long it has happened.
I believe if the injury is fresh or recent and has not been touched then certain specialists in this area of regeneration will treat the injury.
At the moment regeneration in this area is very much in its infancy in terms of what can be treated on humans. However, there is much room of encouragement as more research is making its way out of the laboratory into the realms of clinical trials.
Below I have provided a link to those whom are leaders in this area of research and whom might be able to look at your injury. I cannot guarantee that they can help but they work on these kinds of clinical trials for regeneration.
This is based at the McGowan Institute of Regeneration in Pennsylvania in the USA.
Research Projects:
Limb and Digit Regeneration – http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/projects/projects_limb_regeneration.asp
CNS Tissue Engineering – http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/projects/projects_cns_tissue.asp
Research Team:
http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/team.asp
Contact Link:
http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/contactus.asp
In the contact link above be sure to follow their instructions on what they require so they have as much information as possible.
Again I want to emphasized that there is no guarantees that they can provide treatment or suggestions. However, it is always worth reaching out to them to see if they can help.
Thank you Shanna for reaching out and commenting on this site and please keep me updated on how you get on.
Best wishes,
Alexander.
Prusak says
1st December 2017 at 1:06 PMDobrý den jsem z České republiky mám úraz prstů pravá ruka chybí my 2clanky ukazováčku a1clanek prostředníčku lisem vinou stroje jsem zoufaly můžete my prosím poradit kam se obrátit ó pomoc Děkuji Prusak Česká republika
Susan says
15th January 2018 at 10:05 AMCan you comment on the future of kidney regeneration?
Alexander says
18th January 2018 at 7:34 AMHi Susan,
Kidney Regeneration is something that is being worked on by Scientists. At the moment it is very much in its infancy.
The kidney is a challenging organ to regenerate scientists find. However, there is new research that came out in 2016 based on a joint effort from Japan and the USA. This is where they were aiming to take the research in kidney regeneration to a new level. Based on a findings around Progenitor cells.
These cells help with the formation of the kidney but they are lost soon after the kidney development is complete when the baby is born. This is believed to be one of the reasons why the kidney cannot regenerate itself. But the scientists were able to produce a method to increase the kidney progenitor cell proliferation in vito.
I have attached the a few articles here for your interest and research that is related about this research.
Expansion of kidney progenitor cells toward regenerative medicine
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160606095530.htm
The Kidney Repair Shop
https://hsci.harvard.edu/kidney-repair-shop
Need A New Kidney? Let’s Create A New One!
https://www.asianscientist.com/2016/06/in-the-lab/kidney-progenitor-cell-regeneration-tissue-engineering/
I will probably write an article about Kidney Regeneration and where it is currently at.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Regards,
Alexander.
Zasher naveed says
14th September 2018 at 9:42 PMHi, sir I have lost my right hand two fingers tip because of gangrene (due to intravenous drugs). I want to regrow my fingertip. Please help me how can I contact with concerned doctor for treatment.i will b highly thankful to you plz help me regards zasher naveed
Alexander says
21st October 2018 at 12:30 PMHi Zasher,
Thank you for your comment and I hope your are getting treatment for your injury from your Doctor and suitable medical care.
What you have asked is a common question that gets discussed by people here. So much so that I have provide information in the FAQs of this website for further information and where they could get help and suggestions.
If you go to the FAQ’s and check out the section for Clinical Trials. You will see the links for the research to Dr Badylak that are discussed in this post. In the FAQs there are several links to the Institute’s website on how to contact them for treatment in a clinical trial.
I do not know if they can provide treatment for your injury and condition but it is always worth sending them an email to see how they respond.
I have also provided the links below for reaching out to the scientists at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Pittsburgh.
Contact Page:
http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/contactus.asp
Research Projects they are involved in including Limb and Digit Regeneration:
http://www.mirm.pitt.edu/badylak/projects.asp
Let me know how you get on and if I can be of further help.
Thanks,
Alexander.
Merry says
7th November 2018 at 10:00 PMDear Mr Alexander, thank you for caring about people concerns.Is there any doctor who dose (EMC) skin regeneration for scar of a surgery on abdomen in uk or at least in Europe?
Alexander says
11th November 2018 at 5:51 PMHi Merry,
Thank you for reaching out to me with your questions. Have a look through the following websites.
https://raft.ac.uk/wound-healing
https://www.researchforyou.co.uk/
http://www.ukdctn.org/index.aspx
These give information of new innovative treatments and/or offering clinical trials for new emerging medical technologies. Reach out to these organisations in the UK and see how they can help you.
If they cannot provide any information then after this, I recommend you try contacting the Institute of Regenerative Medicine in Pittsburgh where they specialise in ECM treatments at the Stephen Badylak Laboratory as mentioned in the article. They may know scientists doing clinical trials in their internal network and have UK and European connections that could help you in using Extra Cellular Matrix treatments for skin regeneration.
Let me know if I can help further.
Thanks,
Alexander.