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Revolutionary Nano-Bio-Bandages by MIT
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Have you ever wondered what makes the gecko lizard stroll over practically any surface--be it a ceiling/floor/wall? Have you ever imagined a situation where soldiers at the war-front could instantly treat their wounds/slits on their own? Well, the two questions might seem distantly related, but this article will show you how these two questions enabled the invention of two brilliant nano-scale bandage products, by scientists working relentlessly on these quests, sitting in the elite MIT.

Instant Healing Physical Nano-Scale Bandage

When the scholars of Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies, MIT imagined about a bandage which could instantly heal the soldiers with severe physical injuries in battles, they came up with a product extra-ordinare--a thrombin-coated nanobandage! Leader of this research funded by Institute of Soldier Nanotechnologies and a Denmark-based company, Ferrosan Medical Devices was Paula Hammond. The use of thrombin may be explained by the obvious fact that it's a natural clotting agent found in blood. But, preparing it in a solution, along with tannic acid, and then spraying it using a nano-sprayer on gauge sponges made it a brilliant bandage, that could heal in seconds! The mixture was highly stable on the sponge which could be carried to open areas with no fear of degradation; and the nano-spray made sure that the effective area of absorption by sponge is very high, and the area of action of thrombin is also very High!

The idea of nano-spraying was inspired by the conventional practice of using gelatin sponges to stop bleeding in hospitals. The sponges were dipped in liquid thrombin just before application and was thus used to halt the profuse bleeding. The limitations were obvious: the current system couldn't be taken to a battle field and application on all parts of the body is not effective. Pre-coating of gelatin sponges with layers of nano-spray of thrombin/tannic acid, made it a highly stable and portable system ( not just for doctors, but for soldiers themselves too!). Animal tests revealed that nano-bandage could stop a physical injury in just 60 seconds, while a normal dipped bandage took 150 seconds, and even a 12 min application couldn't help stop the bleeding when just the gauge was used. The scientific group has taken the next steps by using a spray of a mixture of thrombin-tannic acid-vancomycin (anti-biotic) for the obvious reasons of avoiding any microbial infection too!

Following is a highly informative Podcast on Dr. Paula Hammond's research:

Super-Effective Internal Nano-Bandage
Another challenge that MITians (rather MIT + Harvard) had in mind was-effective and instant sealing of internal injuries/slits during surgeries, which were too big for sutures to accommodate. Like covering up of the diseased intestinal segment surgically removed or an injury on a sensitive tissue like cardiac tissue and other surgical wounds, were what MITians targeting. The scientific team on this pursuit was led by MIT Prof. Robert Langer and Jeff Karp, an instructor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The biggest challenge in developing a bandage alternative to sutures was that they had to work on a glueing mechanism which could help stick the bandage to as wet surfaces as internal tissues of the body, and still be flexible, biocompatible and degradable.
And, the solution was observed in gecko lizard! Gecko's feet have nano-scale hills & valleys that enable it to cling to walls/ceilings. Taking inspiration from it, the bandage surface was patterned with similar nano-scale hills and valleys, followed by a thin layer of gecko's pad like glue. The combination of patterned surface and gecko like glue, made sure of a substance that could stick to wet surfaces like internal tissues/organs.
The material of the surface was Karp's self developed biorubber and the patterning was done using micropatterning technology (same as used for microchips). Trials were done on pig's tissues with exceptional results. Such a bandage can be loaded with drugs/antibiotics/anti-clotters etc and it's binding capacity can be maneuvered with by changing the micropattern. So, it provides huge flexibility over the use of the bandage.

Following is a video on MIT News Update by Jeffery Karp on the new Medical Adhesive:


The targeted approach of MIT scientists in addressing two extremely significant issues of finding quick healing solution to physical and internal injuries in critical situations like warfare and vital organ surgeries, really set an example for others to follow for the welfare of society at large. These inventions will really change the face of surgeries and their efficacy.

Thanks!
Sunil Nagpal
MS(Research) Scholar, IIT Delhi (Alumnus)
Advisor for the Biotech Students portal (BiotechStudents.com)
Computational Researcher in BioSciences at a leading MNC


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Revolutionary Nano-Bio-Bandages by MIT51