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Implantable, removable device may aid in transplant of islet cells in type 1 diabetes
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Researchers at Cornell University have developed an implantable, removable device to aid in the transplant of hundreds of thousands of islet cells into patients with type 1 diabetes, potentially providing an alternative to insulin therapy, according to a press release.
The research group, led by Minglin Ma, PhD, assistant professor in the department of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University, developed a polymer “thread” to implant attached islet cells that are protected by a thin, hydrogel coating, allowing the coated cells to be removed or replaced easily when they have outlived their usefulness.
The ability to remove the transplant is key, according to researchers, because of its potential to form tumors.
"When [islet cells] fail or die, they need to come out," Ma said in the release. "You don't want to put something in the body that you can't take out. With our method, that's not a problem."
Taking inspiration from the way water beads on a spider's web, Ma and his team first attempted to connect the islet cell-containing capsules through a string but realized that it would be better to put the hydrogel layer uniformly around a string instead. That string: an ionized calcium-releasing, nano-porous polymer thread.
The thread — which the group has dubbed TRAFFIC (Thread-Reinforced Alginate Fiber For Islets enCapsulation) — was inspired by a spider's web, according to Ma. He said an added advantage of the implant is hydrogel cover for the thread.
"You don't have any gaps between capsules," Ma said in the release. "With a spider's silk, you still have gaps between the water beads. In our case, gaps would be bad in terms of scar tissue and the like."
This therapy would involve minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to implant approximately six feet of hydrogel-coated thread into the patient's peritoneal cavity, according to the researchers.
TRAFFIC has received patent protection with the help of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, a collaborator on the research.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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