Chinese scientists develop ink that heals wounds via 3D-printing pen
By Carl Samson
A group of Chinese scientists have developed an ink that accelerates the healing of wounds.
How it works: The ink can be “painted” onto a cut of any shape using a 3D-printing pen. Researchers call the system “PAINT,” or “portable bioactive ink for tissue healing.”
What it’s made of: The ink is composed of extracellular vesicles secreted from white blood cells — which help form blood vessels and reduce inflammation — and sodium alginate. These components mix at the tip of the pen and form a sturdy gel at the site of the injury in three minutes, as per the press release.
How effective it is: It remains to be seen just how effective PAINT is for human wounds. However, the scientists have tested the system on mice and found that they healed completely from large wounds after 12 days. On the other hand, mice that did not receive the treatment “were not nearly as far along in the healing process at this time point,” the researchers noted.
About the study: The study received funding from the Leading-Edge Technology Programme of Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation, the Natural Science Foundation, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, the CAS Key Laboratory of Nano-Bio Interface, the Key Laboratory of Nanodevices and Applications and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province. It was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
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