Experts have developed a gel pen containing sodium alginate and extracellular vesicles, which can help heal cuts of any shape and size.
Illustration of gel spray technology for wound healing. (Image: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces).
Most bandages merely cover wounds and may also kill harmful bacteria. The Mobile Bioactive Ink System for Tissue Healing (PAINT) goes a step further by integrating a pen that allows doctors to “draw” a healing gel directly onto the wound, as reported by New Atlas on June 2.
The PAINT technology is being developed by a team of scientists from Nanjing University, China. The system consists of a 3D printing pen that contains sodium alginate gel and particles known as extracellular vesicles (EV). EVs are produced naturally by white blood cells and play a crucial role in reducing inflammation and forming new blood vessels at the injury site.
The gel and EVs are mixed together at the tip of the pen, forming a viscous ink that can be sprayed onto cuts of any shape and size. In experiments conducted on human epithelial cells, the use of this new ink helped advance these cells to the proliferation stage of the healing process, where new blood vessels form and inflammatory substances decrease.
Additionally, the PAINT system also promotes collagen fiber production when tested on mice. Large wounds in the treated group of mice nearly healed completely after 12 days, while wounds in the untreated group showed significantly slower healing rates.
The new study, led by experts Dan Li, Xianguang Ding, and Lianhui Wang, was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, promising a fast and effective wound healing method. However, there is currently no information available on the expected timeline for testing the PAINT pen on humans.
