NANO-HYDROGELS FINDS AND KILLS CANCER CELLS
Hydrogels are materials that are commonly used in day to day life in objects such as contact lens or diapers,in order to control humidity.Chemical engineers at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), in Mexico have developed a new technology that uses thermosensitive nanoparticles (nano-hydrogels) to control the release of anyicancer drugs inside the human body.The basic idea behind this is that the drug can be enclosed within the nano-hydrogelsand transported directly to cancer cells whrer it can be released without damaging other parts of the body.
This is possible because the medicine can be transported to the desired site by different routes like oral, nasal, buccal, rectal and even ocular.The drug release can be triggered by a change in pH levels, or temperature.
This new advancement lets the researchers add magnetic particles to the hydrogels in order to produce a force field to raise the temperature, which is necessary to destroy cancer cells.
PRODUCTION
The thermosensitive nano-hydrogels which through a polymerisation technique, mixes substances eith different chemical and physical characteristics, achieving chemical reaction and forming a set of small spheres called polymers.By combining emulsion polymerization and microemulsion the researchers were able to synthesise hydrogels which have better mechanical properties than conventional hydrogels.
APPLICATION
These materials are used primarily in the biomedical area as diagnostic membranes, coatings, microcapsules,implants for applications of short or long-range and systems of controlled drug release. It could also be used to regenerate tissue or mend fractures, serving as substrates for cell growth.
The nano-hydrogels have shown very good characteristics of biocompatibility with human body, due to their physical properties which make them resemble living tissues, especially by its high water content, its elastic consistency, and its low interfacial tension which prevents them from absorbing proteins from body fluids.
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Source: Mumbai Mirror
Related posts:Gold nanotubes , Fibre electronics
Source: Mumbai Mirror