China Experts have developed a pen containing sodium alginate gel and extracellular vesicles that can help heal cuts of any shape or size.
Illustration of wound-healing gel pen technology. Photo: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Most bandages only cover the wound and can also kill harmful bacteria. The Portable Bioactive Ink for Tissue Healing (PAINT) system goes further, incorporating a pen that will allow doctors to “draw” a paste-like healing ink directly onto the wound of the future, New Atlas reported on June 2.
PAINT technology is being developed by a team of scientists from Nanjing University in China. The system consists of a 3D-printed pen containing sodium alginate gel and particles called extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are naturally produced by white blood cells and play an important role in reducing inflammation and forming new blood vessels at the site of injury.
The gel and EV mix together at the tip of the pen, forming a viscous ink that can be sprayed onto cuts of any shape and size. In tests on human epithelial cells, the new ink helped push the cells into the proliferative phase of the healing process, where new blood vessels form and inflammatory substances are reduced.
In addition, the PAINT system also helped boost collagen production when tested on mice. Large wounds in the treated mice group were almost completely healed after 12 days, while wounds in the untreated group were far behind in healing speed.
The new research, led by Dan Li, Xianguang Ding, and Lianhui Wang, published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces , promises a fast and effective method of wound healing. However, there is no information yet on when the PAINT pen is expected to be tested on humans.
Thu Thao (According to New Atlas )
Source link
Comment (0)