Tough biomaterial could help repair damaged tissue
In what has been hailed as a major advance in regenerative medicine scientists at McGill University in Montreal, Canada have developed a biomaterial claimed to be tough enough to repair the heart, muscles, and vocal cords.
Led by Professor Luc Mongeau and Assistant Professor Jianyu Li, the team has developed a new injectable hydrogel that provides room for cells to live and grow. Once injected into the body, the biomaterial forms a stable, porous structure allowing live cells to grow or pass through to repair injured organs.
“People recovering from heart damage often face a long and tricky journey. Healing is challenging because of the constant movement tissues must withstand as the heart beats. The same is true for vocal cords. Until now there was no injectable material strong enough for the job,” said Guangyu Bao, a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University.
“The results are promising, and we hope that one day the new hydrogel will be used as an implant to restore the voice of people with damaged vocal cords, for example laryngeal cancer survivors,” he added.
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