The patch itself is made of tiny carbon atoms which form a tube, conducting electricity and imitating natural tissue surface. The more nanotubes the research team added to the patch, the more cells around it would regenerate. It’s the work of Brown University associate professor Thomas Webster, who discovered that by conducting electricity, the patch can heal three types of damaged cells: the muscle cells that beat, the nerve cells that help them contract and endothelial cells lining the blood vessels around the heart. Now it is literally possible to patch up a broken heart. [MIT Technology Review]
LucasF
Friday, May 20, 2011 at 7:35 PMThat is flipping fantastic I guess. I recently read that we don’t know yet whether or not these nano-substances are safe though, because their particles are small enough to pass into the blood stream they apparently could be toxic? That would make me cry because nano-tech is awesome.
Nodeity
Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 9:34 AMHmm,.. I wonder if they could use this type of thing to bridge broken spinal cords…..