Celling Technologies has now launched its latest method for the isolation of adult stem cells. The Res-Q device was developed by ThermoGenesis Corporation to provide an easy to use, point-of-care system to compliment their MXP system currently being marketed in the United States and several international markets.

The Res-Q device is the second point-of-care cell processing system by Celling that utilizes a functionally closed system to eliminate sterility issues while providing consistent, reliable adult stem cell concentrations within minutes.

Read more: The Res-Q System for Adult Stem Cell Therapy

AxoGen, Inc. has announced its U.S. market launch of AxoGuard™ Nerve Protectorand AxoGuard™ Nerve Connector for the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries. With licensed technologies from the University of Florida, the University of Texas, and Emory University, researchers at AxoGen have developed an innovative technology platform making it possible to process allograft nerves while preserving the relevant characteristics of the three dimensional scaffold of the nerve tissue.

Read more: AxoGen launches AxoGuard Nerve Protector and Nerve Connector

In just a few years time people around the world may be getting open wounds sealed by laser rather than by stitches. Scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered that by carefully controlling the heat of a laser, they can seal a wound shut - rather than cutting flesh open! Sealing skin closed with the laser is less likely to tear and is more watertight than traditional stitches. So far, experiments on patients in operating rooms have been successful and their wounds have healed faster and with less scarring.

Read more: New Laser Seals Wounds and Replaces Stitches

In a world-first breakthrough, researchers from UNSW in Sydney have used stem cells cultured on a simple contact lens to restore sight to sufferers of blinding corneal disease.

Corneal damage from infection, burns and chemotherapy is estimated to be the cause of sight loss in about 1.5 million people every year. These people usually wear contact lenses so it makes sense to deliver a stem cell therapy via those contact lenses. Treating corneal damage with contact lenses is simple and cheap.

Read more: Curing the Blind with Stem-Cell-Coated Contact Lenses

A U.K. company called RegenTec, hopes to speed up the healing process of broken bones by injecting a white toothpaste like material which seals broken bones together in minutes.

It could mend shattered bones from traffic and sports accidents and help with complex operations on the spine by replacing the need for healthy bone to be taken from the body or donated. It could also replace the need for the 1.5 million painful bone graft procedures are performed worldwide each year.

Read more: Injectable Bone by RegenTec

Avita Medical is an Australian company with a product able to treat burns, improve scars or smooth irregular coloured areas of your body, leaving minimal scarring, simply by having a consultant spray on new skin.

Its a clinically proven unique culture technology from which hundreds of patients world wide have already benefited.

Because the new cells are autologous, grown from a patient's own cells, there is no risk of rejection and no risk of disease transmission. In addition, because they are in a spray form, applying the new cells takes just minutes.

Read more: Regrowing Skin using ReCell

A face transplant is a still-experimental procedure to replace all or part of a person's face. They are controversial because they carry heavy risks and are performed to improve a patient's quality of life rather than as a life-saving operation. These are becoming known as socially required surguries. There are also concerns that as the operation becomes more routine and safer it could be used for purely cosmetic purposes or as a means of altering identities.

The world's first partial face transplant on a person occured on November 27, 2005. Each time face transplants have been successful, more and more seems to be attempted. By Dec 2008 the Cleveland Clinic performed the worlds 4th face transplant attempting 80% removal and replacement.

Read more: Near Total Face Transplants Now Possible

Medtronic has announced a new spinal reconstruction System. The system is designed for posterior fusions that require the skull to be stabilized to the neck.

When a patient has a serious spinal condition that requires the base of the skull (occiput) to be fused, or joined, to the neck (cervical-upper thoracic spine), this complex procedure must be performed from the back of the spine, also known as a posterior approach. The VERTEX SELECT Occipitocervical Module contains implants and an instrument set necessary for performing this surgical procedure.

Conditions of the spine, such as degenerative disease, can lead to instability and pain for patients. To treat the instability, surgeons perform a spinal fusion, which involves joining two bones together, such as the occiput and vertebrae. Nearly 40,000 posterior cervical fusions are performed each year, of which approximately 10 percent involve occipitocervical fusions.

Read more: Spine Reconstruction with VERTEX SELECT