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Hydrogels: The blood stops here

Nature Reviews Materials volume 1, Article number: 16097 (2016) Cite this article

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Uncontrolled bleeding due to vascular injury is treated either with open surgery or, more recently, with minimally invasive endovascular embolization. The latter involves guidance of metallic coils or liquid embolic agents with catheters and wires to the site of bleeding, where clotting is induced to occlude the wounded blood vessel. However, this procedure comes with certain risks, including recanalization, coil migration, coil compaction or toxicity, and adhesion between the liquid embolic agent and the catheter.

To overcome such problems, the researchers used a hydrogel, comprising gelatin and silicate nanoplatelets. The study was conceived upon discussion between Khademhosseini (an experimentalist) and Oklu (a clinician–scientist). “My lab had previously developed the biomaterial, but only after initiating interactions with Rahmi and trying to solve the issues he has seen in his clinical practice, we realized its potential use for internal bleeding,” explains Khademhosseini. For Oklu, this research is a successful example of patient-inspired bioengineering: “We developed a biomaterial not just for the bench or for use in animal models, but tailored it so that it could be used with tools, imaging technology and with the needs of the end user (that is, the physician) in mind.”

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References

  1. Avery, R. K. et al. An injectable shear-thinning biomaterial for endovascular embolization. Sci. Transl. Med. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aah5533 (2016)

  2. Gaharwar, A. K. et al. Shear-thinning nanocomposite hydrogels for the treatment of hemorrhage. ACS Nano 8, 9833–9842 (2014)

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  1. Adam Brotchie
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Brotchie, A. Hydrogels: The blood stops here. Nat Rev Mater 1, 16097 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2016.97

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2016.97

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