Researchers at Brown University, United States, have developed a formula to help seal prosthetics against infection. More flexible, functional prosthetics have been developed in recent years, for soldiers returning home from battlefields, but even the new implants have trouble keeping bacteria from entering the body through the space where the device has been implanted. The Brown researchers have created nanoscale surfaces for implanted materials that mimic the contours of natural skin, which attract skin cells that, over time, build a natural seal against bacterial invasion. The group also created a molecular chain to sprinkle skin-growing proteins on the implant to hasten skin growth. Laboratory tests showed a near doubling of skin cell density on the implant surface, with the keratinocyte density, within five days, reaching a point at which the skin layer bridging the abutment and the body had been created. According to Thomas Webster, an associate professor of engineering and orthopedics, “You definitely have a complete layer of skin. There’s no more gap for the bacteria to go through.” The team’s next step is to perform in vivo studies. Human trials could follow successful in vivo studies, although Webster says such trials could be years away. The article can be viewed online at the link below.