Imagine buzzing the skin over an internal wound with an electrical device and having it heal over just a few days – that's the promise of new nanochip technology that can reprogram cells to replace tissue or even whole organs.
It's called Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT), and while it's only been tested on mice and pigs so far, the early signs are encouraging for this new body repair tool - and it sounds like a device straight out of science-fiction.
The prototype device, developed by a team at Ohio State University, sits on the skin and uses an intense electrical field to deliver specific genes to the tissue underneath it. Those genes create new types of cells that can be used nearby or elsewhere in the body.
"By using our novel nanochip technology, injured or compromised organs can be replaced," says one of the study leaders, Chandan Sen. "We have shown that skin is a fertile land where we can grow the elements of any organ that is declining."
During animal tests, researchers were able to use TNT to reprogram skin cells on the outside of injured legs to become vascular cells, which are key to regulating a healthy blood flow through the body.
Within a week, active blood vessels appeared in the injured legs, and by the second week the injured legs had been saved by TNT.
What's more, nerve cells generated in the lab using the same technique were used to successfully help brain-injured mice recover from a stroke.
"This is difficult to imagine, but it is achievable, successfully working about 98 percent of the time," says Sen. "With this technology, we can convert skin cells into elements of any organ with just one touch."
http://www.sciencealert.com/new-nanochip-devices-could-heal-organs-with-a-single-touch