When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
Researchers at a North Carolina medical center have manipulated electrically conductive polymers so that when they are exposed to infrared light they generate enough heat to kill colorectal cancer cells.
The team, led by Dr. Nicole Levi-Polyachenko, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center discovered the formulation that gives the polymer nanoparticles two important capabilities for medical applications. Thanks to the researchers’ work, the polymermaterial can be made into nanopolymers that easily disperse in water and they can radiate intense heat, according to a press releasefrom the medical center.
Tests showed that when the nanoparticles infused the colorectal cancer cells and exposed them to five minutes of infrared light, the treatment killed 95% of the cells. “The results of this study demonstrate how new medical advancements are being developed from materials science research,” says Levi-Polyachenko. Other researchers have shown that polymers that absorb light can destroy cancer cells.
Moreover, the nanoparticles did not lose their heating ability even after repeated cycles of heating and cooling. The medical center’s press release explains:
This offers advantages over metal nanoparticles, which can melt during photothermal treatments, leading to a loss of heating efficiency. This also allows for subsequent treatments to target cells that are resistant to heat-induced killing.
Other electrically conductive polymers from other research groups that have been explored for photothermal therapy often absorb across a wide range of infrared light. “We have specifically used electrically conductive polymers designed to absorb a very narrow region of infrared light,” says Dr. Christopher MacNeill, a post-doctoral researcher at the medical center and first author on the paper, “and have also developed small, 50 – 65nm polymer nanoparticles in order to optimize both biological transport as well as heat transfer.” The team’s paper was published in Macromolecular Bioscience.
Another benefit of the medical center’s polymer is that it is organic and non-toxic, which could alleviate concerns about the nanoparticles’ effects when they potentially linger in the human body. Levi-Polyachenko says:
There is a lot more research that needs to be done so that these new nanoparticles can be used safely in patients, but the field of electrically-conductive polymers is broad and offers many opportunities to develop safe, organic nanoparticles for generating heat locally in a tissue. We are very enthusiastic about future medical applications using these new nanoparticles, including an alternative approach for treating colorectal cancer.
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