Military's Facial Prosthetic Program Transforms Injured Troops

(July 27) -- At a specialized facial prosthetics lab on San Antonio's Lackland Air Force Base, Pentagon-funded research is treating an unprecedented number of troops returning from war with traumatic injuries.

The lab has been around for more than two decades, but, as The Associated Press reports today, it once treated mostly cancer patients or accident victims.

Now, however, the facility is a locus of extreme science and remarkable progress in prosthetic development for injured troops.

"Our goal is to give them the best of the best," lab director Dr. Joe Villalobos told the AP. "We're going to give them the ideal treatment."

Expert technicians use MRI scans to create 3-D facial models and then craft custom prosthetic pieces to re-create missing bone, skull fragments or appendages like noses and ears.

Beyond basic reconstruction, the lab also delves into aesthetics. For injured vets who've already undergone dozens of surgeries, prosthetics created with precise attention to detail can make a major social -- and psychological -- difference.

"It's a combination of a little bit of science, art and ingenuity," lab worker Nancy Hanson said. "We deal with very unique situations."

There's no doubt that this is only the start of the military's progress in prosthetic and traumatic injury repair. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is already pursuing neurally controlled prosthetic devices and stem cell-based regrowth of lost body parts.

Other military-funded science could be in hospitals within a few years. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently received a $12 million Pentagon grant to fast-track human trials of sci-fi tools like spray-on skin and bone-fusing cement.