Mayo Clinic joins group battling war injuries

St. Paul, Minn. — The Mayo Clinic will develop new medical treatments for Americans injured in war.

The Mayo Clinic has joined a consortium called the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine. The group's goal is to develop products and therapies for battlefield injuries.

Doctor Michael Yaszemski says the Mayo Clinic will work to treat nerve and bone damage. He says right now doctors can fix nerves that have suffered small separations. The future of repairing more severe damage lies with plastics.

"The difficulties arise with longer gaps. And the technologies that we're using is to make a guidance channel out of polymers, plastics," Yaszemski said.

The plastics to be used in these repairs will have myllin cells that help reconnect the split nerve. Yaszemski said he believes this technology can be available in less than five years.