MukoCell® is a modern and gentle procedure for the surgical treatment of urethral strictures.
A tissue substitute is used that is grown in the laboratory from the patient's own oral mucosa cells. Our aim is to improve the quality of life of people who have problems urinating due to a narrowed urethra.
they have a weak urine stream, which may also be twisted, fanned out or split in two.
they have a frequent urge to urinate and need to urinate more often, with only a small amount of urine coming out.
it sometimes takes longer for the urine stream to start or the urine stream is interrupted.
they cannot empty their bladder completely, it dribbles or small amounts of urine go down their trousers.
There can be various causes behind this. Most people suspect prostate problems. However, it can also be a narrowing of the urethra - in technical terms: urethral stricture or urethral stricture. This condition affects just under one per cent of all men.
Several methods can be used to treat a narrowed urethra - depending on the length, extent and location of the affected area. Sometimes it is sufficient to dilate the narrowed urethra or to cut open the scarred area in a minor procedure - although this usually results in new scarring.
For this reason, open surgery is unavoidable in many cases of urethral strictures. Very short narrowings can be cut out. In the case of longer constrictions, the altered urethral tissue is replaced with the body's own tissue - preferably from the oral mucosa (reconstruction). Specialists also refer to this as urethroplasty (urethra = medical term for urethra, plastic = surgical moulding of tissue parts or organs).
If the damaged urethral tissue is replaced by oral mucosa tissue, this has advantages:
The body's own tissue is not rejected by the immune system and is therefore well tolerated.
After transplantation, the oral mucosa develops into fully functional urethral tissue.
However, the advantages come at the cost of a decisive disadvantage: The extensive removal of oral mucosa results in lengthy injuries and pain in the oral cavity.
This is where we at MukoCell GmbH and our innovative MukoCell® tissue substitute come into play: as specialists, we can help to make the treatment of chronic urethral strictures as gentle as possible.
The tissue substitute MukoCell®
is cultivated in the laboratory from the patient's own cells and can replace damaged urethral tissue
consists of cells of the oral mucosa on a carrier membrane
is very well suited for the surgical treatment of urethral strictures
offers many advantages over conventional methods:
MukoCell® works just as well and has the same benefits as normal oral mucosa.
However, the use of MukoCell® eliminates the lasting damage to the mouth that occurs when large pieces of oral mucosa are removed.
The modern and gentle cell therapy procedure can significantly reduce the time required for surgery and anaesthesia.
MukoCell® is the first authorised drug for advanced therapies in urology.
In the case of chronic urethral stricture, the urethra is usually altered and narrowed by scarring, which usually makes urination significantly more difficult. Chronic urethral stricture results in a weak urinary stream and an incompletely emptied bladder.
Both significantly reduce the quality of life and can also impair health. This is because possible consequences include an increased incidence of infections in the urinary tract and impaired kidney function, which in the worst case can lead to life-threatening kidney failure.
Chronic urethral stricture is relatively common in men and comparatively rare in women.
The right person to contact for urethral strictures is a urology specialist. Urologists look after the health of the (male and female) urinary tract and the male reproductive organs (genital tract).
The surgical treatment of urethral strictures belongs in the hands of experienced specialists and is carried out in urology clinics or in hospitals with a urology department.
MukoCell GmbH is a German biotechnology company specialising in the development, production and distribution of patient-derived tissue substitutes created in the laboratory. The tissue substitute is used to restore (reconstruct) tissue parts or organs such as the urethra.
The technical term for the artificial production of biological tissue by cultivating it from body cells is tissue engineering.
MukoCell GmbH is headquartered in Dortmund and Bochum.
With MukoCell®, the innovative company offers an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) in the field of urology. ATMPs are modern drugs that are based on genes, tissues or cells.
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