A graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale University, Mark Holterman, MD, is an expert in stem cell therapy and serves as an attending pediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Illinois. Also a professor, Dr. Mark Holterman served as co-surgeon in the world's first trachea transplant performed in a small child.
The trachea implant operation, which utilized a stem cell-based artificial windpipe, took place over the course of nine hours. Equipment used in the operation included Biospherix’s Xvivo cell incubation and processing system and Harvard Bioscience’s nanofiber tracheal scaffold and InBreath bioreactor.
Designed for cell culturing and seeding, the InBreath bioreactor is a sterile medical device that consists of three parts: a culture chamber, a motor, and a control unit. In addition to allowing automation, the device enables surgeons to seed different types of cells on both sides of a cellular three-dimensional tube during an operation. This ensures even and uniform coverage. Moreover, the device stimulates cells and enhances culture medium oxygenation to improve metabolic activity.
