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 Johns Hopkins University have developed a jelly-like hydrogel and wound treatment method that could help heal injuries ranging from severe burns to foot ulcers on diabetics without scarring.
Third-degree burns typically obliterate skin far down to the muscle, and healing the burns usually involves complicated treatment but leaves deep scarring. The new hydrogel is a water-based, three-dimensional framework of polymers that can be applied to these wounds.On Friday, the team published results of preliminary studies with mice. Further animal testing is planned before human trials on this patent-pending hydrogel, according to a statement from the university.
The hydrogel appears to reduce scarring by essentially speeding the healing process. After 21 days, the gel is absorbed into the skin and the skin reportedly appears normal.
“This treatment promoted the development of new blood vessels and the regeneration of complex layers of skin, including hair follicles and the glands that produce skin oil,” said Sharon, principal investigator and assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins, in a statement.
Rebecca Boyle describes the hydrogel for Popular Science:
This [hydrogel] is made of mostly water with dissolved dextran, a type of sugar, and polyethlyene glycol (a common substance found in everything from antifreeze to laxatives)…. Last winter, Rice University researchers used a PEG hydrogel, doped with human growth factors and platelets, to induce the growth of artificial vessels. But this new one is interesting because the researchers didn’t add anything — no growth factors or anything else. This particular hydrogel’s physical structure apparently rendered that unnecessary. The researchers aren’t even certain how this happened.
They aren’t sure, but they have ideas. John Harmon is a co-author and professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of surgical research at Bayview Medical Center Burn Center. He hypothesizes, according to a statement, “that the hydrogel may recruit circulating bone marrow stem cells in the bloodstream. Stem cells are special cells that can grow into practically any sort of tissue if provided with the right chemical cue.”
Guoming Sun, lead author and a postdoc in Gerecht’s lab, added in a statement that complete skin regeneration may be extended to other kinds of wound injuries such as skin ulcers by further fine tuning biomaterial frameworks.
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