Original title: liquid band aid invented: Research on nano silver liquid bandages for 14-year-old girls in the United States
A 14-year-old girl named karafan in California has won the title of "top young scientist in the United States" for her invention of nano silver liquid bandage, foreign media reported on November 2.
According to the report, in the annual 3M young scientist challenge, Kara fan beat the other nine finalists and won a US $25000 prize for her nanoparticle liquid bandage.
It is reported that fan began to develop her liquid bandages in April 2019, using lemon leaves, silver nitrate and a water-soluble polymer to combat the overuse of antibiotics. When the spray bandage she invented dries on human skin, it will form a film to protect the wound, while breaking the cell wall and killing bacteria on the skin.
Overuse of antibiotics has led to antibiotic resistant infections, with about 2 million people suffering from bacterial infections each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention.
If left unchecked, the drug-resistant disease or 'superbug' could kill 10 million people worldwide by 2050, the UN report said.
Using silver nitrate instead of cupric acid to fight against bacteria is the main reason for fan's final award.
Previously reported:
On May 15, the British academic journal Nature & middot; Communication published the research results of a new type of biomaterial from the Chinese research team, which can completely stop the bleeding of the major artery injury and heart penetrating injury in a few seconds. Hong Yi, a postdoctoral researcher at the school of basic medicine, Zhejiang University, who participated in the study, said that the biological glue could stop bleeding and "repair leakage" in various operations, which is expected to reduce the mortality and blood product consumption caused by uncontrollable bleeding. Next, the team plans to transform it into a medical device that can be used for clinical use, which may be available within 3 to 5 years. In this process, it may take a long time to fully ensure the safety of materials.
"Magic glue" quick hemostasis
On May 15, Beijing time, the journal Nature & middot; communication, a subsidiary of the British academic journal Nature, published the research results of new biological glue materials from the Chinese research team. This new kind of biomaterial can stop the bleeding of big artery injury and heart penetrating injury completely in a few seconds, and it is safe and degradable without any adverse reactions. Its effect has been confirmed in pigs, and it is expected to be used in clinic in the future.
It is understood that this paper entitled "a powerful hemostatic gel for repairable arterial and cardiac bleeding" was completed by Professor Ouyang Hongwei of Zhejiang University medical school and Professor Zhu Linyong of East China University of Science and Technology. On the afternoon of May 16, a reporter from Beiqing daily contacted Hong Yi, a postdoctoral fellow at the school of basic medicine, Zhejiang University, one of the co authors of the paper.
According to Hong Yi, this new material is a gel that mimics biological connective tissue and can solidify quickly under ultraviolet radiation. The proportion of the biological glue is close to that of collagen and glycosaminoglycan in the human connective tissue, and it can be solidified within one second after UV irradiation.
"In short, it's a liquid band aid that can be used in the body. It's mainly used to block various kinds of leakage in the body, such as various gastrointestinal bleeding and hemostasis during operation. 'said Hong Yi.
The research results are expected to reduce bleeding mortality
Beiqing news reporter saw in the operation video provided by the researchers that after a series of operations such as injecting biological glue and ultraviolet irradiation on a pig heart which was bleeding, the bleeding situation disappeared within about 10 seconds, and there was no need to sew it up again. Hong Yi said that for bleeding wounds, it is generally necessary to apply 1 to 2 times of glue, which can stop bleeding in about 10 seconds; for jet bleeding wounds, it needs to apply 3 to 5 times, which takes about 30 seconds to stop bleeding.
Hong Yi told Beiqing daily that in the pig heart experiment, the pig's chest was closed and sutured after the hemostasis of the heart was completed. Two weeks later, the autopsy found that the pig's heart wound was well sealed. "This shows that the biocompatibility of this bio glue is good and it can be degraded and absorbed. We have observed it for up to 8 months, and no side effects such as necrosis and large inflammation have been observed. '
"Rapid hemostasis and wound closure are important clinical needs. We have also communicated with many surgeons in the research. They all said that patients often die because of the inability to effectively control the bleeding during the operation. At the same time, the consumption of blood products is huge because of the inability to quickly and effectively control the bleeding. Hong Yi said that at present, the method of stitching is generally used for massive bleeding of arteries and main organs, which is relatively slow and will cause new damage due to stitching and acupuncture. On the one hand, the new material can quickly stop bleeding, on the other hand, it does not produce new wounds.
It takes a long time to ensure material safety
Hong Yi said that at present, he has applied for a number of Chinese and international patents for the biological glue, and the next step is to transform it into a medical device product that can be used for clinical use. 'at our current pace, it may be available in about 3 to 5 years, depending on the approval process. '
Many netizens said that whether such a black technology means the price will be very expensive. In response, Hong Yi said that the material of the biological glue itself is not expensive, but the cost of R & D and approval will eventually be reflected in the price. "Our current estimate is that the price of each tube of biological glue will be lower than that of the imported hemostatic products for clinical use. '
When it comes to the difficulties faced by the current project, Hong Yi said that since this technology is a new technology, there is no standard for reference in the process of product transformation, how the regulatory authorities evaluate the safety of products will be a more difficult point. "Our current research has preliminary verification of the effectiveness and safety in vivo, but to be put on the market, further preclinical and clinical research needs to be carried out according to the relevant requirements of the state, to study the metabolic pathway of materials in the body, so as to ensure that they can be safely used in the human body in the future. '
At the same time, Hong Yi also mentioned that the mechanical properties of biological glue can not completely replace suture in tissue suture. "For example, it's not applicable to situations such as knife wounds where tissues need to be pulled together and sutured, but the current version has been able to meet the hemostasis and wound closure needs of internal organs. '