Scientists develop an injectable gel that could repair tissue damaged by heart attack - Polidicks

[TABLE="width: 600"] [TR] [TD][IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/UCSD_logo.png[/IMG][/TD] [TD][h2]Scientists develop an injectable gel that could repair tissue damaged by heart attack[/h2][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [release] University of California, San Diego researchers have developed a new injectable hydrogel that could be [highlight]an effective and safe treatment for tissue damage caused by heart attacks.[/highlight] The study by Karen Christman and colleagues appears in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Christman is a professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and has co-founded a company, Ventrix, Inc., to bring the gel to clinical trials within the next year. Therapies like the hydrogel would be a welcome development, Christman explained, since there are [highlight]an estimated 785,000 new heart attack cases in the United States each year, with no established treatment for repairing the resulting damage to cardiac tissue.[/highlight] The hydrogel is made from cardiac connective tissue that is stripped of heart muscle cells through a cleansing process, freeze-dried and milled into powder form, and then liquefied into a fluid that can be easily injected into the heart. Once it hits body temperature, the liquid turns into a semi-solid, porous gel that encourages cells to repopulate areas of damaged cardiac tissue and to preserve heart function, according to Christman. The hydrogel forms a scaffold to repair the tissue and possibly provides biochemical signals that prevent further deterioration in the surrounding tissues. “It helps to promote a positive remodeling-type response, not a pro-inflammatory one in the damaged heart,” Christman said. What’s more, the researchers’ experiments show that [highlight]the gel also can be injected through a catheter[/highlight], a method that is minimally invasive and does not require surgery or general anesthesia. New, unpublished work by her research team suggests that the gel can improve heart function in pigs with cardiac damage, which brings this potential therapy one step closer to humans, said Christman. There are few injectable cardiac therapies in development designed to be used in large animals such as pigs, which have a heart that is similar in size and anatomy to the human heart, Christman explained. “Most of the materials that people have looked at have been tested in rats or mice, and they are injectable via a needle and syringe. However, almost all of them are not compatible with catheter delivery and would gel too quickly, clogging the catheter during the procedure. [highlight]In experiments with rats, the gel was not rejected by the body and did not trigger arrhythmic heart beating[/highlight], providing some assurance that the gel will be similarly safe for humans, the researchers note. Christman has an equity interest in Ventrix, Inc., a company that may potentially benefit from the research results, and also serves on the company’s Scientific Advisory Board. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by the University of California, San Diego in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. The study’s co-authors include Jennifer Singelyn, Priya Sundaramurthy, Todd Johnson, Pamela Schup-Magoffin, Diane Hu, Denver Faulk, Jean Wang, and Kristine M. Mayle in the Department of Bioengineering; Kendra Bartels, Anthony N. DeMaria, and Nabil Dib of the UC San Diego School of Medicine; and Michael Salvatore and Adam M. Kinsey of Ventrix, Inc. The research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award Program (part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research), the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. [video=youtube;COTh-nAQifs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTh-nAQifs[/video] Porcine connective tissue is stripped of heart muscle cells through a cleansing process, freeze-dried and milled into powder form, and then liquefied into a fluid that can be easily injected into the heart to repair damage caused by heart attack. There are an estimated 785,000 new heart attack cases in the United States each year but no established treatment for repairing the resulting damage to heart tissue. [/release] [URL="http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressreleases/injectable_gel_could_repair_tissue_damaged_by_heart_attack/"]Source[/URL]

It's amazing to see how far we've come along in medical science.

Heart injections? uuuaguagua

Medigel.

[QUOTE=Disgruntled;34887231]Medigel.[/QUOTE] Not far off. There's been other gel type medical products being worked with, like the gel that can cause limbs to regrow.

Can't wait to hear some presidential candidate talk shit about this and say that it's interfering with gods plan.

[QUOTE=zombini;34887404]Not far off. There's been other gel type medical products being worked with, like the [b]gel that can cause limbs to regrow.[/b][/QUOTE] Gel that can cause limbs to regrow? [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/Youngatheart.jpg[/img] Young at Heart (X Files episode :v:) Regrowing his hand really worked well, didn't it?

so this is what the liquid inside the half life 2 medkits is

Its just trauma center with the super gel that raises the patient's vitals.

[QUOTE=fcampbell;34887594]Gel that can cause limbs to regrow? [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/Youngatheart.jpg[/img] Young at Heart (X Files episode :v:) Regrowing his hand really worked well, didn't it?[/QUOTE] I think he meant the powder (made from pig bladders) that can regrow fingers and the like. Its only a matter of time until we can regrow limbs. We can already artificially grow human bladders.

bacta anyone?

[QUOTE=Earthen;34892992]I think he meant the powder (made from pig bladders) that can regrow fingers and the like. Its only a matter of time until we can regrow limbs. We can already artificially grow human bladders.[/QUOTE] Woahwat. Link?

Goddammit science, running out of gold stars to give you!

[QUOTE=Disgruntled;34887231]Medigel.[/QUOTE] Yep, sounds a lot like medi-gel, if only a rather basic version. Once we get a version that stimulates rapid tissue repair, sterilises wounds and numbs pain, THEN we've got medi-gel.

[QUOTE=ironman17;34895113]Yep, sounds a lot like medi-gel, if only a rather basic version. Once we get a version that stimulates rapid tissue repair, sterilises wounds and numbs pain, THEN we've got medi-gel.[/QUOTE] Morphine, ethanol, this heart tissue gel, the powder that regrows limbs and some stem cells all mixed in a vat with some cocaine and modafinil and i think that would work.

[QUOTE=Uncle Bourbon;34889347]so this is what the liquid inside the half life 2 medkits is[/QUOTE] I always thought it was 7-up.

inb4 religious groups complain about how morally wrong this is.

[QUOTE=Programmer;34899335]inb4 religious groups complain about how morally wrong this is.[/QUOTE] Any religious group that finds this offensive would be an outlier, most religious groups are completely fine with medical science and I don't see anything in here that could potentially be controversial.

[QUOTE=tehperzon;34886988]It's amazing to see how far we've come along in medical science.[/QUOTE] It's amazing how much further we'd be if stupid Americans wouldn't be so worried about scientists stealing their imaginary friend's job.

[QUOTE=SnowCanary;34899491]Any religious group that finds this offensive would be an outlier, most religious groups are completely fine with medical science and I don't see anything in here that could potentially be controversial.[/QUOTE] Stem cells.

[QUOTE=Programmer;34900049]Stem cells.[/QUOTE] They're transitioning from embryonic stem cells to genetic engineering of stem cells thanks to synthetic proteins. Honestly, at the rate science is developing right now, religions are going to run out of excuses to hamper progress very, very soon.

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;34901696]religions are going to run out of excuses to hamper progress very, very soon.[/QUOTE] Hopefully. :v:

[QUOTE=Programmer;34901827]As long as the majority are religious ( which they are ). We can never progress.[/QUOTE] Yeah we haven't progressed at all since the dawn of any form of organized religion, right?

[QUOTE=DaysBefore;34901879]Yeah we haven't progressed at all since the dawn of any form of organized religion, right?[/QUOTE] Yeah, it's late.. I realized what I said was completely retarded and snipped. :<

[QUOTE=just-a-boy;34901696]They're transitioning from embryonic stem cells to genetic engineering of stem cells thanks to synthetic proteins. Honestly, at the rate science is developing right now, religions are going to run out of excuses to hamper progress very, very soon.[/QUOTE] The main religious issue with stem cells was that they were embryonic. I don't know of any religions that have problem with synthetic ones.

[QUOTE=Ardosos;34901910]The main religious issue with stem cells was that they were embryonic. I don't know of any religions that have problem with synthetic ones.[/QUOTE] Some religions don't know about the other methods of getting stem cells, they're very close minded when it comes to stuff they can't understand.

[QUOTE=PassTheBong;34893497]bacta anyone?[/QUOTE] Hell yes! Every time I drink blue Gatorade I always pretend I'm drinking some of that blue shit from Star Wars!

I don't know, something about sticking a needle into my heart for an injection doesn't gel well with me.

[QUOTE=zombini;34898504]Morphine, ethanol, this heart tissue gel, the powder that regrows limbs and some stem cells all mixed in a vat with some cocaine and modafinil and i think that would work.[/QUOTE] Dunno about the cocaine part, but if it doesn't cause some sort of violent reaction when all the stuff is mixed together, then that'd probably be the right recipe, more or less.

[QUOTE][IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/97/Youngatheart.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] Well you can probably still use it to fap!