Implantable Device Functions as Soft Robot for Treating Muscle Atrophy - HospiMedica

Image: MAGENTA prototypes fabricated with “shape representation alloy” outpouring and elastomer (Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute)

Muscles discarded arsenic a effect of not being exercised enough, arsenic happens rapidly with a breached limb that has been immobilized successful a cast, and much dilatory successful radical reaching an precocious age. Muscle atrophy, however clinicians notation to the phenomenon, is besides a debilitating grounds successful patients suffering from neurological disorders, specified arsenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and aggregate sclerosis (MS), and tin beryllium a systemic effect to assorted different diseases, including crab and diabetes. Mechanotherapy, a signifier of therapy fixed by manual oregon mechanical means, is thought to person wide imaginable for insubstantial repair. The best-known illustration is massage, which applies compressive stimulation to muscles for their relaxation. However, it has been overmuch little wide whether stretching and contracting muscles by outer means tin besides beryllium a treatment. So far, 2 large challenges person prevented specified studies: constricted mechanical systems susceptible of evenly generating stretching and contraction forces on the magnitude of muscles, and inefficient transportation of these mechanical stimuli to the aboveground and into the deeper layers of musculus tissue.

Now, bioengineers astatine the Wyss Institute astatine Harvard University (Boston, MA, USA) person developed a mechanically progressive adhesive named MAGENTA, which functions arsenic a brushed robotic instrumentality and solves this two-fold problem. In an carnal model, MAGENTA successfully prevented and supported the betterment from musculus atrophy. One of MAGENTA’s large components is an engineered outpouring made from nitinol, a benignant of metallic known arsenic “shape representation alloy” (SMA) that enables MAGENTA’s accelerated actuation erstwhile heated to a definite temperature. The researchers actuated the outpouring by electrically wiring it to a microprocessor portion that allows the frequence and duration of the stretching and contraction cycles to beryllium programmed.

The different components of MAGENTA are an elastomer matrix that forms the assemblage of the instrumentality and insulates the heated SMA, and a “tough adhesive” that enables the instrumentality to beryllium firmly adhered to musculus tissue. In this way, the instrumentality is aligned with the earthy axis of musculus movement, transmitting the mechanical unit generated by SMA heavy into the muscle. The researchers are advancing MAGENTA, which stands for “mechanically progressive gel-elastomer-nitinol insubstantial adhesive,” arsenic 1 of respective Tough Gel Adhesives with functionalities tailored to assorted regenerative applications crossed aggregate tissues.

After designing and assembling the MAGENTA device, the squad tested its musculus deforming potential, archetypal successful isolated muscles ex vivo and past by implanting it connected 1 of the large calf muscles of mice. The instrumentality did not induce immoderate superior signs of insubstantial inflammation and damage, and exhibited a mechanical strain of astir 15% connected muscles, which matches their earthy deformation during exercise. Next, to measure its therapeutic efficacy, the researchers utilized an successful vivo exemplary of musculus atrophy by immobilizing a mouse’s hind limb successful a tiny cast-like enclosure for up to 2 weeks aft implanting the MAGENTA instrumentality connected it.

“While untreated muscles and muscles treated with the instrumentality but not stimulated importantly wasted distant during this period, the actively stimulated muscles showed reduced musculus wasting,” said first-author and Wyss Technology Development Fellow Sungmin Nam, Ph.D. “Our attack could besides beforehand the betterment of musculus wide that already had been mislaid implicit a three-week play of immobilization, and induce the activation of the large biochemical mechanotransduction pathways known to elicit macromolecule synthesis and musculus growth.”

“With MAGENTA, we developed a caller integrated multi-component strategy for the mechanostimulation of musculus that tin beryllium straight placed connected musculus insubstantial to trigger cardinal molecular pathways for growth,” said elder writer and Wyss Founding Core Faculty subordinate David Mooney, Ph.D. “While the survey provides archetypal proof-of-concept that externally provided stretching and contraction movements tin forestall atrophy successful an carnal model, we deliberation that the device’s halfway plan tin beryllium broadly adapted to assorted illness settings wherever atrophy is simply a large issue.”

Related Links:
Wyss Institute astatine Harvard University