By integrating expertise in chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering, researchers at McGill University created a robust biomaterial capable of repairing the heart, muscles, and vocal cords, marking a significant breakthrough in regenerative medicine.
“Recovery after heart damage is often prolonged and complex. Repair is difficult because the tissue must endure constant motion from the beating heart, much like the vocal cords. Until now, there hasn’t been an injectable material durable enough to meet these demands,” says Guangyu Bao, a PhD candidate in McGill University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.
A Breakthrough Injectable Hydrogel for Tissue Repair
Led by Professor Luc Mongeau and Assistant Professor Jianyu Li, the team created a new injectable hydrogel designed for tissue repair. This biomaterial offers a supportive environment where cells can survive and grow. After injection, it forms a stable, porous network that allows living cells to populate or move through the material to help heal damaged organs.
“The findings are encouraging, and we hope the hydrogel could eventually be used as an implant to restore voices in people with injured vocal cords, such as survivors of laryngeal cancer,” says Guangyu Bao.
Testing the Approach
The researchers evaluated the hydrogel’s strength using a custom-built device designed to mimic the intense biomechanics of human vocal cords. After vibrating 120 times per second for more than six million cycles, the new biomaterial stayed intact, while conventional hydrogels broke apart, unable to withstand the mechanical stress.
“We were thrilled to see that it performed flawlessly in our tests. Prior to our work, no injectable hydrogel combined both high porosity and strong mechanical toughness. To overcome this limitation, we added a pore-forming polymer to the formulation,” says Guangyu Bao.
The researchers note that the breakthrough could also enable new uses in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and the development of model tissues for drug testing. The team is even exploring the use of the hydrogel to create lung models for evaluating COVID-19 treatments.
“Our study demonstrates how combining materials science, mechanical engineering, and bioengineering can produce biomaterials with exceptional performance. We are eager to move this work toward clinical application,” said Professor Jianyu Li, Canada Research Chair in Biomaterials and Musculoskeletal Health.
Read the original article on: SciTechDaily
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