Add to favorites

#Product Trends

SILK IMPLANTS FIGHT INFECTION THEN DISAPPEAR

Researchers Use Silk and Magnesium to Create Biodegradable, Wirelessly Controlled Pathogen Killers

Researchers from the US and China have created implants made from silk and magnesium that kill bacteria inside the body using drugs or heat and then fully dissolve into the body leaving no trace behind. The biomedical device was recently presented at MEMS 2015 and also in the journal PNAS. The device which is completely biocompatible consists of a power-receiving coil and a resistor made of magnesium deposited on a silk film and then encased in a silk pouch. It could be implanted during surgery and subsequently triggered wirelessly from the outside, once its job is done it would dissolve, thus avoiding the need for a follow up operation.

The multi-skilled collaborative team behind the device was drawn from Tufts University, the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology in China and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The team implanted the device into mice which had been infected with the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Using a transmitter they wirelessly triggered the device for two series of ten-minute treatments. This causes the device’s resistor to heat up and kill the bacteria. When the researchers took tissue samples 24 hours later, they found the mice were free of infection. Separate in vitro trials also showed the biomedical implants could equally be loaded with antibiotics. The device then took 15 days to dissolve and completely disappear.

Details

  • 419 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155‎, United States
  • Tufts University