Researchers have developed an injectable hydrogel to accelerate the wound-healing process, according to results published in Nature Materials.
Co-principal investigators Dino Di Carlo, PhD, a professor of bioengineering, and Tatiana Segura, PhD, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and colleagues at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) developed a hydrogel that creates an instant “scaffold” made of microporous annealed particles (MAP gel) that fill the wound, promoting swift tissue growth.
UCLA Researchers (from left) Tatiana Segura, Dino Di Carlo, Westbrook Weaver, Philip Scumpia and Donald Griffin have developed an injectable hydrogel to accelerate the wound healing process.
Source: UCLA
“Achieving a biomaterial that promotes rapid regeneration while maintaining structural support has been a holy grail in the field of tissue engineering,” Di Carlo said in a press release. “Our team has achieved this in an injectable form by combining tailored material chemistry and microfluidic fabrication of uniform spherical building blocks, each about the width of a human hair.
“Our technology is beautifully simple, as it utilizes any available chemistry to generate tiny gels that can be assembled into a large unit, leaving behind a path for cellular infiltration,” Segura added.
The researchers expect to see the MAP gel used for a wide range of wounds, from lacerations and surgical wound closures to diabetic ulcers and large-area burn wounds, according to the release.
Reference:
Di Carlo D, et al. Nat Mater. 2015; doi:10.1038/nmat4294.
Disclosures: The researchers report the study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
