Transporting Hydrogel via Chinese Acupuncture Needles for Lesion Positioning Therapy.

ABSTRACT: Lesion positioning therapy optimizes medical treatment by directly targeting lesions. However, strong physical barriers greatly hinder its wide use. Here, the Chinese acupuncture needles (CA-needles) with a screw-thread structure at the tip (ST-needle) and the hydrogel with the function of adhesive metal and loaded drug sustained-release structure are designed, through the minimally invasive and precise positioning of lesions by ST-needles, the dry-wet conversion of hydrogel with absorbing fluids and swelling, and the rotation back of ST-needles, the hydrogel is precisely positioned in the subchondral bone with physical barrier to achieve precise positioning therapy for lesions. In vitro experiments show that the ST-needle penetrates the physical barrier of cartilage and enters the subchon

SUBMITTER: Lin F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9189641 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature