Scientists from Sheffield University say their low-intensity ultrasound device can reduce the healing time of skin ulcers and bedsores by as much as 30%, according to a university news release.
The handheld device was developed by Mark Bass, a PhD in biochemistry at the British university, along with several other colleagues. Bass and his team found that ultrasound technologies transmit a vibration through the skin, waking up the cells inside the wound site which can stimulate and accelerate the healing process. The discovery falls in line with several other efforts over the last few years that look to enhance the healing process, including a study that worked with a nanoparticle platform that researchers found could also accelerate the healing process.
However this technology could set itself apart because it involves a handheld device that could be used to treat patients who suffer from painful skin wounds, particularly diabetic and elderly patients. Skin ulcers occur frequently in patients suffering from diabetes, and can not only be painful, but can escalate to the point of requiring amputation—something that could be avoided with this new handy device that could cut a third of the healing time off.
The key to its development actually sprung from the idea of fooling damaged cells into believing they are at a much earlier stage in the body’s life cycle than they actually are. It’s been known for some time that humans possess much higher regenerative capabilities earlier in life. In fact, the human body actually possesses the capability of perfect scar-free healing while still in the womb—a notion Bass and his team kept in mind when trying to manipulate the damaged cells at the site of a wound.
The group found that when they subjected the wounded area to nano-vibrations, they would cause channels to open within the cellular membrane of the surrounding skin cells, allowing calcium to flow across the membrane. This calcium plays a key role in many of the signalling mechanisms within the cell, which in turn endows the cell with a new front-back orientation. This new orientation causes the cells to move toward the damaged site, effectively pulling the edges of the wound together much like sutures would.
Of course, accelerated wound healing isn’t the only progress being made in the realm of regenerative medicine. Just last year scientists at the University of Edinburgh were able to successfully grow a fully functioning organ from transplanted lab-created cells in a living animal. While growing organs in a controlled environment had been done previously, this marked the first occasion that such a feat was accomplished inside a living mammal.
The common denominator is that regenerative medicine and enhanced healing technologies are quickly rising to the fore, as researchers look to push the boundaries of treatment to new heights.
Bass noted that it is possible to enhance the effects of this ultrasound technology even further with continued refinement of the device and how it is used. Most notably, because ultrasound is relatively risk free, he believes we could see such a device in broad clinical use within the next three or four years.
First Functioning Organ Grown in Living Animal
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have successfully grown a fully functioning organ from transplanted laboratory-created cells in a living animal. While researchers have grown organs in controlled lab environments, this marks the first time that an organ has been created within a living mammal.
Researchers created a thymus, an organ located next to the heart that produces important immune cells, known as T cells, which are vital for guarding against disease.
The scientists were able to take cells called fibroblasts, and turn them into thymus cells in lab mice. Thymus cells are completely different kind of cell from fibroblasts, which were created in this experiment using reprogramming. The reprogrammed thymus cells were capable of supporting development of T cells, a specialized function that only thymus cells can perform, according to materials from the university recounted by a press release from the University of Edinburgh.
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| On the left, specialized thymus cells were grown after reprogramming fibroblasts. On the right, lab-grown cells were implanted into a mouse kidney to create a functional “mini-thymus” in a living animal. Credit: MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh. |
Once researchers mixed these reprogrammed cells with other key thymus cell types and transplanted them into a mouse, the cells formed a replacement organ. The new organ had the same structure, complexity, and functionality as a healthy adult thymus. Researchers hope that with further study, the discovery may lead to new treatments for those with a weakened immune system.
This is the first time researchers have created an entire living organ from cells that were created outside of the body through the process of reprogramming. The technique may also offer a way of making patient-matched T cells in the laboratory that could be used in patient-specific cell therapies.
This discovery could prove to be groundbreaking in the growing exploration of regenerative medicine. Recently engineers at MIT designed a biodegradable implantable tissue that can naturally grow bone in the body. The potential impact of lab-created organs and tissue could be monumental when considering the growing number of patients around the world various awaiting transplants.
Despite the various challenges to mass-producing lab-created organs, recent developments such as the lab-generated thymus could prove to be a major step in the direction of organ development and replacement. It also has opened the door to generating specific cells in a lab, paving the way for new innovative cell therapies.
All of these efforts are done with the end goal being to harness the body’s own repair mechanisms, and learning how to manipulate and control these mechanisms to treat diseases. Once these lab-created cells are introduced to the body, they can serve as a catalyst for the immune system, sparking T cell creation and other natural therapeutic responses.