This electronic skin can heal itself — and then make more skin

In a quest to make electronic devices more environmentally friendly, researchers have created an electronic skin that can be completely recycled. The e-skin can also heal itself if it’s torn apart.

The device, is basically a thin film equipped with sensors that can measure pressure, temperature, humidity, and air flow. The film is made of three commercially available compounds mixed together in a matrix and laced with silver nano-particles: when the e-skin is cut in two, adding the three compounds to the “wound” allows the e-skin to heal itself by recreating chemical bonds between the two sides. That way, the matrix is restored and the e-skin is as good as new. If the e-skin is broken beyond repair, it can just be soaked in a solution that “liquefies” it so that the materials can be reused to make new e-skin. One day, this electronic skin could be used in prosthetics, robots, or smart textiles.

Many labs around the world are developing e-skins. One created in Europe allows users to manipulate virtual objects without touching them, by using magnets. Another one developed in Japan can turn a smart shirt into a video game motion controller. This latest e-skin is special because it’s recyclable — and that’s an important added bonus if you consider that in the US alone, 16 billion pounds of electronic waste was created in 2014. All these circuit boards, transistors, and hard drives can contain toxic chemicals that need to be disposed of properly. 

“This particular device  won’t produce any waste,” says study co-author , an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “We want to make electronics to be environmentally friendly.” 

So if the e-skin is severely damaged, or you’re just done with it, it can be recycled using a “recycling solution.” This solution dissolves the matrix into small molecules, allowing the silver nanoparticle to sink to the bottom. All materials can then be reused to create another patch of functioning e-skin. The whole recycling takes about 30 minutes at 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) or 10 hours at room temperature. The healing happens even faster: within a half hour at room temperature, or within a few minutes at 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), according to the Prof. 

The e-skin isn’t perfect. It’s soft, but not as stretchy as human skin. The Prof. says he and his colleagues are also working to make the device more scalable, so that it’ll be easier to manufacture and embed in prosthetics or robots. But it’s the fact that the e-skin can be recycled that gets the Prof. excited. 

“We are facing pollution issues every day,” he says. “It’s important to preserve our environment and make sure that nature can be very safe for ourselves and for our kids.”

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New method may lead to faster HIV, syphilis diagnosis

Scientists have developed a new method for medical testing which may lead to faster diagnosis of HIV, Lyme disease, syphilis, rotavirus and other infectious conditions. 

Researchers at University of Central Florida (UCF) in the US combined cutting-edge nanoscience with a magnetic phenomenon discovered more than 170 years ago to create the method for speedy medical tests. 

"I see no reason why a variation of this technique could not be in every hospital throughout the world," said Shawn Putnam, an assistant professor at UCF. 

The discovery, if commercialised, could lead to faster test results for HIV, Lyme disease, syphilis, rotavirus and other infectious conditions, researchers said. 

At the core of the research are nanoparticles - tiny particles that are one-billionth of a meter, they said. 

The team coated nanoparticles with the antibody to BSA, or bovine serum albumin, which is commonly used as the basis of a variety of diagnostic tests. 

By mixing the nanoparticles in a test solution - such as one used for a blood test - the BSA proteins preferentially bind with the antibodies that coat the nanoparticles, like a lock and key. 

That reaction was already well known. However, Putnams team came up with a novel way of measuring the quantity of proteins present. 

He used nanoparticles with an iron core and applied a magnetic field to the solution, causing the particles to align in a particular formation. 

As proteins bind to the antibody-coated particles, the rotation of the particles becomes sluggish, which is easy to detect with laser optics.
The interaction of a magnetic field and light is known as Faraday rotation, a principle discovered by scientist Michael Faraday in 1845. Putnam adapted it for biological use. 

"Its an old theory, but no one has actually applied this aspect of it," he said. 

Other antigens and their unique antibodies could be substituted for the BSA protein used in the research, allowing medical tests for a wide array of infectious diseases. 

The proof of concept shows the method could be used to produce biochemical immunology test results in as little as 15 minutes, compared to several hours for ELISA, or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which is currently a standard approach for biomolecule detection. 

The research was published in the journal Small. 

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Nanoparticle jabs may help treat arthritis

Injecting nanoparticles into a joint immediately after an injury may suppress inflammation, reduce destruction of cartilage and lower the risk for osteoarthritis, a new study in mice suggests.

“I see a lot of patients with osteoarthritis, and there’s really no treatment,” said Christine Pham from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis in the US.

“We try to treat their symptoms, but even when we inject steroids into an arthritic joint, the drug only remains for up to a few hours, and then it’s cleared. These nanoparticles remain in the joint longer and help prevent cartilage degeneration,” said Pham.

Frequently, osteoarthritis patients suffer an earlier injury – a torn meniscus or anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the knee, a fall, car accident or other trauma.

The body naturally responds to such injuries in the joints with robust inflammation.

Patients typically take drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, and as pain gets worse, injections of steroids also can provide pain relief, but their effects are short-lived.

In the new study, the nanoparticles were injected shortly after an injury, and within 24 hours, the nanoparticles were at work taming inflammation in the joint.

Unlike steroid injections that are quickly cleared, the particles remained in cartilage cells in the joints for weeks.

The nanoparticles used in the study are more than 10 times smaller than a red blood cell, which helps them penetrate deeply into tissues. The particles carry a peptide derived from a natural protein called melittin that has been modified to enable it to bind to a molecule called small interfering RNA (siRNA). The melittin delivers siRNA to the damaged joint, interfering with inflammation in cells. The peptide-based nanoparticle was designed by study co-investigators Hua Pan, an assistant professor of medicine, and Samuel Wickline, Professor of Biomedical Sciences. “The nanoparticles are injected directly into the joint, and due to their size, they easily penetrate into the cartilage to enter the injured cells,” Wickline said. “Previously, we’ve delivered nanoparticles through the bloodstream and shown that they inhibit inflammation in a model of rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, they were injected locally into the joint and given a chance to penetrate into the injured cartilage,” he said. The nanoparticles were injected shortly after injury to prevent the cartilage breakdown that eventually leads to osteoarthritis. The findings suggest that the nanoparticles, if given soon after joint injuries occur, could help maintain cartilage viability and prevent the progression to osteoarthritis. “The inflammatory molecule that we’re targeting not only causes problems after an injury, but it’s also responsible for a great deal of inflammation in advanced cases of osteoarthritis,” said Linda J Sandell, from Washington University’s Centre for Musculoskeletal Research. The findings were published in the journal PNAS

“The nanoparticles are injected directly into the joint, and due to their size, they easily penetrate into the cartilage to enter the injured cells,” Wickline said.

“Previously, we’ve delivered nanoparticles through the bloodstream and shown that they inhibit inflammation in a model of rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, they were injected locally into the joint and given a chance to penetrate into the injured cartilage,” he said.

The nanoparticles were injected shortly after injury to prevent the cartilage breakdown that eventually leads to osteoarthritis.

The findings suggest that the nanoparticles, if given soon after joint injuries occur, could help maintain cartilage viability and prevent the progression to osteoarthritis.

“The inflammatory molecule that we’re targeting not only causes problems after an injury, but it’s also responsible for a great deal of inflammation in advanced cases of osteoarthritis,” said Linda J Sandell, from Washington University’s Centre for Musculoskeletal Research. The findings were published in the journal PNAS.

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New technology could deliver drugs to brain injuries

Scientists have developed a new technology that could deliver drugs to treat traumatic brain injuries resulting from car crashes, falls or violence.

The discovery provides a means of homing drugs or nanoparticles to injured areas of the brain, researchers said.

"We have found a peptide sequence of four amino acids, cysteine, alanine, glutamine, and lysine (CAQK), that recognises injured brain tissue," said Erkki Ruoslahti from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) in the US.

"This peptide could be used to deliver treatments that limit the extent of damage," said Ruoslahti.

Traumatic brain injuries usually result from car crashes, falls, and violence.

While the initial injury cannot be repaired, the damaging effects of breaking open brain cells and blood vessels that ensue over the following hours and days can be minimised, researchers said.

"Current interventions for acute brain injury are aimed at stabilising the patient by reducing intracranial pressure and maintaining blood flow, but there are no approved drugs to stop the cascade of events that cause secondary injury," said Aman Mann from SBP.

More than one hundred compounds are currently in preclinical tests to lessen brain damage following injury.

These candidate drugs block the events that cause secondary damage, including inflammation, high levels of free radicals, over-excitation of neurons, and signalling that leads to cell death, researchers said.

"Our goal was to find an alternative to directly injecting therapeutics into the brain, which is invasive and can add complications," said Ruoslahti.

"Using this peptide to deliver drugs means they could be administered intravenously, but still reach the site of injury in sufficient quantities to have an effect," he said.

The CAQK peptide binds to components of the meshwork surrounding brain cells called chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Amounts of these large, sugar-decorated proteins increase following brain injury, researchers said.

"Not only did we show that CAQK carries drug-sized molecules and nanoparticles to damaged areas in mouse models of acute brain injury, we also tested peptide binding to injured human brain samples and found the same selectivity," said Mann.

"This peptide could also be used to create tools to identify brain injuries, particularly mild ones, by attaching the peptide to materials that can be detected by medical imaging devices," added Ruoslahti.

"And, because the peptide can deliver nanoparticles that can be loaded with large molecules, it could enable enzyme or gene-silencing therapies," he said.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
 

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New bubble technology can shoot drugs deep into tumours

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 An international team of scientists have invented a novel, non-invasive and safe method to deliver cancer drugs deep into the tumour cells.
"Our invention is the first of its kind that allows drug particles to be directed deep into a tumour in a few milliseconds," said lead researcher Xu Chenjie, assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.
The micro-sized gas bubbles, successfully tested in mice, are first coated with cancer drug particles and iron oxide nanoparticles. Using magnets, these bubbles are then directed to gather around a specific tumour.
Through ultrasound, the microbubbles are vibrated, which provides them the energy to direct the drug particles into the targeted area.
The drug particles can penetrate a depth of 50 cell layers or more - which is about 200 micrometres, twice the width of a human hair.

 "The first unique characteristic of our microbubbles is that they are magnetic. After injecting them into the bloodstream, we are able to gather them around the tumour using magnets and ensure that they don't kill the healthy cells," explained Chenjie in the paper published by the Nature Publishing Group in Asia Materials.

 The method ensures that the drugs can reach the cancer cells on the surface and also inside the core of the tumour.

Also, it can be a good alternative treatment in the future, which is low cost and yet effective for the treatment of cancers involving solid tumours, as it might minimise the side effects of drugs, the researchers added.

According to the team, the current chemotherapy drugs are largely non-targeted. The drug particles flow in the bloodstream, damaging both healthy and cancerous cells.

These drugs are also typically flushed away quickly in organs such as the lungs and liver, limiting their effectiveness.