As war continues around the world -- more soldiers are suffering life-changing injuries. But breakthroughs in regenerative medicine could soon change the way soldiers recover and rebuild their lives.
Matthew Slaydon lost his sight and his left arm while fighting in the middle east.
"There's time when you think you just can't go on," said his wife, Annette Slaydon.
He and other soldiers recovering from war, recently enjoyed the surf at Waikiki . Sharing powerful images of lives being rebuilt. "These are the perfect opportunities for him to experience life again," she said.
Scientists from Tissue Genesis in Kakaako are striving to provide new opportunities and new choices for soldiers wounded in combat.
"Today they have to choose the options they have in the field," said Tissue Genesis President and Chief Executive Officer, Anton Krucky.
And previous options often conclude in amputations.
"To keep a limb alive -- you may not choose that option because you don't think you'll be able to do that -- and so where you'd end up is with a prosthetic for soldier and that's fine and they're doing incredible work in that area," said Krucky.
But that may soon change -- thanks to an unlikely source.
"We take cells from a person's own fat," said Krucky. "The fat is a very rich source of these cells -- in addition the fat has regenerative cells in it that are blood like."
Fat tissue is processed in this machine, which removes unwanted material. What's left is a mixture of stem cells and other therapeutic cells, which can be used to sod an artificial blood vessel or injected directly into damaged tissue.
"If you can envision down the line the ability to know that you can keep a limb alive by producing vessels -- that a soldier's situation -- could be one where they would keep it together as best as they could and by the time they got either off the field or in that first hospital -- if you can produce a vessel in less than two hours for them -- then they can put the arm back together," said Krucky.
Giving new meaning to reconstruction.
"The bones they can put together, the nerves they can put together -- the key is life -- and life is brought to the limb by blood," he said. "You can put one in to try and save that limb -- would be a great option for those soldiers," he said.
A great option for soldiers who continue to fight and continue to sacrifice.
"Every new step they take is hopefully the beginning of a solution for a lot of these guys that are here today," said Annette Slaydon.
And its these images that drive this local company -- knowing their efforts will give the future a fighting chance. Since its inception in 2001, tissue genesis has generated strong support of federal contracts to fund research and development.