Singaporean’s research spells new hope for healing severe skin injuries, chronic wounds
Singaporean researcher Magdalene Ho has developed a smart wound-dressing technology that utilizes traction force-activated payloads to accelerate healing. The technology, which harnesses cellular forces to release healing proteins, shows promise for treating severe skin injuries and chronic wounds.
Why it matters
This innovation could significantly improve recovery times and outcomes for patients suffering from traumatic injuries or chronic conditions like diabetic ulcers.
What started off as a summer research project with the Almquist Lab at Imperial College London eventually led Magdalene Ho and her colleagues to develop the smart wound-dressing technology.
PHOTO: THOMAS ANGUS/IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON
Listen SINGAPORE – Spending time in hospitals as a child helped set a Singaporean researcher on a path to bioengineering, eventually leading her to develop a smart wound-dressing technology that could make wounds heal twice as fast.
Magdalene Ho, chief executive and co-founder of Traxion Biotech – a spin-off from Imperial College London – hopes that in a couple of years, the technology can benefit patients, particularly those with traumatic wounds and severe skin injuries, where body tissue has been lost through accidents or burns.
The technology uses traction force-activated payloads (TrAPs), which harness the forces generated by cells as they move through the body to release healing proteins where needed to help repair damaged tissue.
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