Injectable electroactive microbots may one day heal broken bones

“The technology is being developed by scientists from Sweden’s Linköping University and Japan’s Okayama University. It’s inspired by the fontanelle tissue that allows babies’ skulls to be soft and flexible when they’re passing through the birth canal, but that then hardens into bone shortly thereafter.  The material itself currently takes the form of a thin strip of an alginate (algae-derived) hydrogel. One side of that gel is covered with an electroactive polymer called polypyrrole (PPy), while the other contains biomolecules known as cell-derived plasma membrane nanofragments (PMNFs).  When a low-voltage electrical current is applied to the material, the PPy responds by increasing in volume. Because the polymer is only on one side of the strip, this response causes the strip to bend to one side. By cutting different patterns into the material, it’s possible to make the strip bend into different shapes, such as a semi-circle or a corkscrew.  Meanwhile, because the PMNFs are derived from cells involved in the bone development process, they will naturally mineralize and harden like bone when placed inside the human body.”   MORE

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