New Material for Artificial Tissue
August 13, 2013 | Terry Sharrer
Heart attacks that result in scar tissue compromise heartbeat. This piece describes another of several “heart patch” strategies which attempt to create an artificial tissue to bridge a scarred-over region. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have used a human protein (tropolastin) to make a gel which is shaped between two plates and cured with UV light. Such a patch would be seeded with a patient’s stem cells. A problem yet to overcome is how to make such a patch with holes that allows capillaries to develop. MORE
Image Credit: Khademhosseini lab and Gizmag.com