|21 March 2017|
Worldwide
Spray painted graffiti can transform characterless urban areas into works of art and the technique now shows promises as a way of assisting those with cardiac problems.
Researchers have discovered a way of spray painting biomaterials onto the heart to form a platelet fibrin gel – a regenerative cardiac patch – which could offer a pioneering, non-evasisve way, of helping an unhealthy heart heal.
“The spray painting method is an excellent example of how tissue engineering has evolved since the 1990s,” says Professor John Jansen, Department Head of Biomaterials, Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands. “The described delivery method is easy to apply in clinics and shows significant potential for patient treatment.”
Academics from institutions in America and China joined forces on the project. Working on mice, they discovered the sprayed on materials were non toxic, degraded over time and unleashed a variety of ‘growth factors’ which supported cardiac repair.
Their report A Regenerative Cardiac Patch Formed by Spray Painting of Biomaterials Onto the Heart is published in Tissue Engineering.
