Promissory identities: sociotechnical representations & innovation in regenerative medicine

The field of regenerative medicine (RM) is championed as a potential source of curative treatments and economic wealth, and initiatives have been launched in several countries to facilitate innovation within the field. As a way of examining the social dimensions of innovation within regenerative medicine, this paper explores the sociotechnical representations of RM technologies in the UK, and the tensions, affordances and complexities these representations present for actors within the field. Specifically, the paper uses the Science and Technology Studies-inspired notions of ‘technology identity’ and ‘development space’ to examine how particular technologies are framed and positioned by actors, and how these positionings subsequently shape innovation pathways. Four developing RM technologies are used as case studies: bioengineered tracheas; autologous chondrocyte implantation; T-cell therapies; and a ‘point-of-care’ cell preparation device. Using these case studies we argue that there are particular identity aspects that have powerful performative effects and provide momentum to innovation projects, and we argue that there are particular stakeholders in the UK RM landscape who appear to have considerable power in shaping these technology identities and thus innovation pathways

Feasibility of Exploiting Celution^<TM> System in Autologous Cell Therapy in Dokkyo Medical University Hospital:Safety and Reproducibility

In 2012, we established the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Dokkyo Medical University Hospital, and are now preparing the necessary equipment and preclinical evidence for cell therapy. Liposuction is a commonly used procedure in plastic surgery and the lipoaspirate is discarded as a medical waste. However, the lipoaspirate is known to contain abundant mesenchymal stem cells, and thus, it is currently one of the most feasible options of regenerative medicine. Several ongoing clinical trials of cell therapy (in Japan and overseas as well) are based on the Celution^ system, an automated cell-processing machine utilizing lipoaspirate. The merit of using such a machine is that collected cells are so abundant that it is not necessary to expand the cell number in a Cell Processing Center. Moreover, there are fewer risks of bacterial infection because the system is isolated from the ambient dust and operated automatically. Our group is now planning respective cell therapies for breast reconstruction after mastectomy, urinary incontinence and ischemic cardiovascular diseases, and all these protocols will be based on the Celution^ system. Here, we report the initial test run of Celution^ to confirm its safety and reproducibility