Hydrogel could grow new heart tissue, without the need for surgery

Universities and scientific organizations all over the world are currently looking into ways of growing functioning heart cells on the heart, to replace the tissue that dies when a heart attack occurs. As things currently stand, the body replaces that tissue with non-beating scar tissue, leaving the heart permanently weakened. Most of the experimental techniques for generating new tissue involve introducing some sort of micro-scaffolding to the affected area, providing a framework for new cells to grow on. That scaffolding has consisted of materials such as carbon nanofibers and gold nanowires, which would have to be surgically applied to the heart, sort of like a Band-Aid. Now, however, researchers from the University of California, San Diego are reporting success in animal trials, using an injectable hydrogel.

The team is being led by Karen Christman, a professor in UCSD's Department of Bioengineering.

They started by obtaining cardiac connective tissue, then used a cleansing process to remove its muscle cells, freeze-dried it, milled it into a powder, and used an enzyme to liquefy it. When injected into the hearts of pigs with cardiac damage, the liquid turned into a porous, semi-solid gel upon reaching body temperature. That gel subsequently provided a scaffold for new tissue growth, and the pigs' condition improved.

Besides acting as a scaffold, it is suspected that the gel might also provide biochemical signals, which prevent the surrounding heart tissue from deteriorating further.

Christman believes that the liquid could be injected using a catheter, so surgery and general anesthesia would not be required. While other scientists have developed heart-repairing hydrogels before, she notes that those substances would not work with catheters, as they would gel too quickly.

When injected into rats, the gel wasn't rejected and didn't cause arrhythmic heart beating - an indication that it could also be biocompatible with humans. A spin-off company, Ventrix, is planning clinical trials sometime next year.

Comments

10 URLs to Find Out What Google Knows About You

Google is much more than just a search giant. It is also home to many of your favorite products: Gmail, YouTube, and Chrome, just to name a few. Apart from that, it also offers many products to help you keep track of your data . Most of these are hidden deep inside the My Account dashboard, which many users don’t really know of. These hidden tools may reveal interesting details about your usage of Google’s many services. We’ve compiled a list of important Google URLs of some hidden tools that carry information of what you did with Google, mostly from the searches that you have made on their many products, the voice searches and typed out Google searches that you have made. Are you ready to find out what how Google knows about you ? 1. Google Dashboard Google Dashboard offers transparency and control over the personal data stored with your Google Account. You can view and manage the data gener...

Edible water balloons that could get rid of the need for plastic bottles

In case you didn’t know, bottled water is destroying the planet. We know that we need to be drinking plenty of water. It’s important. But the plastic bottles they’re sold in are terrible for the environment. One solution is using reusable bottles that you can fill from any nearby taps instead of buying a new bottle each time. Another solution is much more exciting. A group of engineers from Skipping Rocks Lab have developed a wonderful thing called The Ooho!. It’s a globe filled water that you can pop in your mouth whole. The outer shell is made of algae, so it’s edible and biodegradable. Meaning there’s no need for packaging or plastic – the globes of water are self-contained and ready to consume. Exciting, right? Plus they’re wobbly and they look cool, which is always a bonus. The team have now created a crowdfunding page to make their creation available to the public, with goals of selling The Ooho! at festival and marathons within the next 12 m...

Nine government sites hit by cyber attacks: NIC

The National Informatics Center (NIC) has revealed that as many as nine government websites were defaced by recent cyber attacks. The center further said that the servers, which hosts these government sites, suffer a number of hacking attempts on a daily basis. The websites www.kumbh2010haridwar.gov.in, www.ueppcb.uk.gov.in, www.gov.ua.nic.in/ujn, www.cdodoon.gov.in, www.arunachal.nic.in,www.bee-india.nic.in, www.civilsupplieskerala.gov.in, www.mpcb.gov.in and www.informatics.nic.in were defaced , prompting authorities to ramp up the cyber security safeguards. In an RTI reply, the NIC, which reports to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said that it was impossible for the body to accurately quantify these attacks but they are usually blocked by security controls put in place. The Ministry was asked to provide details of hacking attempts made on the governments websites in the last ten years (2001-11) along with url names of the portal...

Daily Tech News

Search This Blog