Damaged tissues could grow back a lot faster in the future with the help of a new device developed by engineers. The process behind it is simple, and a simple injection with encapsulated tissue cells is required.
The device helps encapsulate cells a lot faster, and it does it quickly, and it remains cheap at the same time. Researchers at UBC Okanagan created the device.
“The idea of injecting different kinds of tissue cells is not a new one. It’s an enticing concept because by introducing cells into damaged tissue, we can supercharge the body’s own processes to re-grow and repair an injury,” explained co-author Keekyoung Kim.
Adopting the new approach
This new device can prove to be incredibly efficient, and it could be used for anything from torn ligaments to broken bones. Before this device was created, this process was a tricky one. Cells are quite vulnerable and don’t always survive after being injected into the body.
“It turns out that to ensure cell survival, they need to be encased in a coating that protects them from physical damage and from the body’s own immune system. But it has been complicated to do that kind of cell encapsulation, which has until now been done in a very costly, time consuming and wasteful process,” explained lead author Mohamed Gamal.
Researchers managed to solve this issue by encapsulating cells in a microgel which purifies them. This is done with the help of the new device and 85% more cells survive as a result of that. “Research in this area has been hampered by the cost and lack of availability of mass-produced cell encapsulated microgels,” said Kim. “We’ve solved that problem, and our system could provide thousands or even tens of thousands of cell-encapsulated microgels rapidly, supercharging this field of bioengineering.”
