Scaffold of Tiny Synthetic Tubes (IMAGE)
Caption
Purdue researchers have developed a technique using sugar filaments spun like cotton candy and coated with a polymer to create a scaffold of tiny synthetic tubes that might serve as conduits to regenerate nerves severed in accidents or damaged by disease. The image on the left, taken with a scanning electron microscope and artificially colored, shows the sugar strands in yellow and the polymer coating in blue. Images on the right, taken with the same instrument, show a side view of the tubes and tiny pores that are ideal for supplying nutrients to growing nerve cells and removing waste products from the cells.
Credit
Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Basic Medical Sciences and the Center for Paralysis Research, Purdue University
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