Closing wounds or repairing organs using a bonding method would be possible. Scientists have developed a solution based on nanoparticles that provides good healing.
Regenerative medicine could take a leap forward. A team of scientists led by Ludwik Leibler, from the “soft matter and chemistry” laboratory and Didier Letourneur, from the Translational Vascular Research Laboratory has just demonstrated that the principle of adhesion by aqueous solutions of nanoparticles can be used to repair organs ” soft ‘and tissue, sticking a gel. These works, carried out in vivo, on rats, just published on the website of the German journal Angewandte Chemie.
A solution of nanoparticles applied with a brush
In a first experiment carried out on rats, the researchers carried out a comparative analysis of a closure of a deep wound of the skin by the traditional method of stitches, and of a closure by the application of the brush of the aqueous solution of nanoparticles. In a second experiment, the researchers applied the latter solution to so-called “soft” organs, such as the liver, spleen or lung, which are particularly difficult to suture.
The researchers thus closed a deep cut in the liver with hemorrhage, spreading the aqueous solution of nanoparticles and squeezing the edges of the wound and the blood loss stopped after a very short time. Researchers used the same method to repair a severed liver lobe. In both situations, the animals survived and organ function was not impaired.
The results are surprising because, in addition to closing wounds, even deep ones and in a few seconds, this method allows to obtain a quality and aesthetic healing.
A method used to attach a membrane to the heart
Sticking on a bandage to stop leaks is just one example of the possibilities that nanoparticles would offer. But, researchers have also succeeded in attaching a degradable membrane used in cell therapy to the heart. A big challenge because of the heartbeat. It would therefore be possible to fix medical devices or even repair and strengthen organs and tissues mechanically.
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