{"id":3725,"date":"2022-02-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2022-01-31T15:00:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T15:00:59","slug":"bone-fractures-may-soon-be-healed-by-injectable-microbots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/bone-fractures-may-soon-be-healed-by-injectable-microbots\/","title":{"rendered":"Bone Fractures May Soon Be Healed By Injectable \u201cMicrobots\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It seems that there\u2019s a giant push towards truly unique means of improving the field of medicine for researchers nowadays; some research teams are looking into mimicking animal slime technology to heal tendons<\/a>, while others look into placing tech directly onto bones that need healing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we\u2019ve got cooperation between researchers from Link\u00f6ping University (LU) and Okayama University (OU), who produced a potential new method to heal broken bones that at first glance teeters on the edge of science fiction: using so-called \u201celectroactive microbots\u201d to heal fractures. Their novel research was published in the journal Advanced Materials<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it\u2019s not necessarily \u201crobots\u201d per se; instead, their innovative approach to bone injuries take the form of an alginate hydrogel<\/em>, with one side covered in an electroactive polymer called polypyrrole<\/em> (PPy) and the other in a material that the research team-up calls the easy-on-the-tongue cell-derived plasma membrane nanofragments<\/em> (PMNFs), according to New Atlas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A close-up image of the novel alginate hydrogel strip shows the black polypyrrole coating on one side. (Planthaber, 2022)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

To be precise, PPy changes its volume once a low voltage is applied to it; this causes the alginate hydrogel strip to bend to one side or the other. What makes the study viable for bone injury is the interaction between the hydrogel and the PMNFs on the other side of the strip: once the strip is immersed into a cell culture medium, the PMNFs, cause the alginate hydrogel to \u201c[mineralize] and harden like bone,\u201d according to an LU press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, a controlled application of PPy onto the hydrogel allows it to wriggle its way into complicated-shaped bone fracture sites and expand to fill needed volume, while the PMNF-alginate reaction initiates mineralization that can serve as an anchor point for new bone to form, thus allowing for fracture healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this demonstration, the low voltage applied to the strip (left) will cause it to wrap around bone fracture sites, simulated here by the white piece of chicken bone in the center. (Planthaber, 2022)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The] material is soft and flexible, and it is then locked into place when it hardens. This material could be used in, for example, complicated bone fractures. It could also be used in microrobots \u2013 these soft microrobots could be injected into the body through a thin syringe, and then they would unfold and develop their own rigid bones,\u201d said lead author and LU Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology associate professor Edwin Jager while noting the injectable nature of the potential future treatment method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jager continued: \u201cBy controlling how the material turns, we can make the microrobot move in different ways, and also affect how the material unfurls in broken bones. We can embed these movements into the material\u2019s structure, making complex [programs] for steering these robots unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jager mentioned that he got the idea during a research visit to Japan, where he met bone researchers Hiroshi Kamioka and Emilio Hara. The Japanese research team actually discovered PMNFs earlier on, with Jager thinking of how to combine them with his own team\u2019s materials science research. (Hara\u2019s earlier paper was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B<\/em><\/a>; they also served as co-author of this paper.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team is now working on improving the novel technology\u2019s biocompatibility with living cells through further experimentation and testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n