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Ed Yeates ReportingA unique collaboration between two Utah universities may give the Veterans Administration a way to give back to American soldiers what they're losing in Iraq's war.
Though the American death toll in Iraq is sobering to say the least, unlike their comrades in previous wars, 95 percent are surviving.
Dr. Roy Bloebaum/ U of U, Veterans Affairs Bone & Joint Research: "The type of injuries they're having now are more extreme, that would not have been, that you would not have lived through in previous wars."
While on patrol, Daniel Gubler was literally blown away by 100 pounds of high explosives. Surgeons have restored vision in one eye and will soon repair the other.
And his lost arm? Dan plans to get a new generation prosthetic limb that's comparatively lifelike and mobile.
Daniel Gubler/ Iraq War Veteran: "The arm they want to produce is attached and is part of my body. It functions like that, instead of something that I have to manipulate in order to get it to do the things I need to do."
More than 500 amputees have come home from Iraq, with more yet to come.
New generation prosthetics the VA wants them to have require a bone implant. But drug resistant infections at the site where the stem goes through the skin have posed a life threatening risk, until NOW!
Brigham Young University chemists have formulated antibacterial agents in a honey-like compound that mimics the natural defenses found in human skin.
That honey-like material is actually embedded into a small foam disc, which is very easily placed on the exterior of the implant itself.
Dr. Paul Savage/ BYU Biochemistry: "Because of the way we've formulated them, they will release very slowly. So even if they're washed with water, they will remain intact."
Held tightly on the stem, the compound kills even drug resistant bacteria.
In partnership with the University of Utah Orthopedic Center, the ointment now refined by Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals will be tested along with futuristic prosthetics sensitive to touch and all kinds of manipulation, controlled by the amputee's own brain, muscles and nerves.
Dr. Roy Bloebaum: "All you need to do is snap on the implant and you're ready to go. A lot of the soldiers, some of them want to return to combat. They want to stay in the military."
Artificial limbs with both strength and grace, with sensory feedback that's almost like the real thing.
The infection-fighting ointment could also be used for implanted tubes and IV ports in patients, and for a new kind of instant wound dressing.
