A new regenerative medicine device may be able to start healing damaged human tissue in "less than a second," according to Chandan Sen, PhD, director of Ohio State's Center for Regenerative Medicine & Cell Based Therapies in Columbus.
Dr. Sen co-led a recent study into the technology, called Tissue Nanotransfection, with L. James Lee, PhD, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering with Ohio State's College of Engineering. The technology aims to generate or repair any cell type within a patient's own body, including injured or aging tissue in organs, blood vessels and nerve cells.
In the study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers used Tissue Nanotransfection to save injured legs of mice and pigs that lacked blood flow. The technology was also able to reprogram skin cells into nerve cells, helping brain-injured mice recover from stroke.
The technology is comprised of two parts: a nanotechnology-based chip that delivers biological "cargo" to adult cells in a patient's body and a specific biological cargo that converts an adult cell from one type to another, explained the study's first author Daniel Gallego-Perez, PhD. The cargo is delivered with a small electrical charge.
"With this technology, we can convert skin cells into elements of any organ with just one touch," said Dr. Sen. "The chip does not stay with you, and the reprogramming of the cell starts."
The researchers are planning to start clinical trials to test the technology in humans next year, Dr. Sen added.
More articles on health IT:
What personality tests from tech industry jobs reveal about the sector's gender gap
IT adds 9.6k jobs last month, IT services and software leads sector
7 things to know about the ex-Google employee's gender gap manifesto