Dr. Kong from the University of IL has developed microparticles that create fibrin gels with desirable properties for wound healing products, drug delivery, and diagnostic tools. When blood clots it forms fibrin gel networks to close wounds temporarily for more permanent healing to take place. A significant problem with artificially-made fibrin gel networks is that they can be difficult to tune to attain desirable gelation rate and rigidity. The microparticles developed by Dr. Kong solve this problem by releasing thrombin in response to H2O2 to make gels with tunable, desirable properties.
Benefits
Encapsulating thrombin and MnO2 nanosheets allows for decoupling of gelation rate and gel rigidity.
Applications
This technology may be used for nano- or microparticles for drug delivery, biological gels for biomedical applications, or bleeding control/wound management.