Scar management with nanotechnology

• Main Author: Shi, Ran
• Other Authors: Xu Chenjie
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Bioengineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/65030
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Scarring, as a normal step of wound healing process, has various types. Among them, the two abnormal scars, namely hypertrophic scars and keloids, are affecting many people around the world. Although they are not life-threatening, they could lead to not only aesthetic problems, but also structural & functional issues to the patients with these two abnormal scars. Around 16% of the population in Africa have been suffering from these scarring-ensued problems in movements, functions and even psychological areas. Although the treatments for scar management could date back to the 1960s, there is still no current therapy able to meet the expectation as an ideal modality for patients to choose, due to the respective limitations. Many researchers have been working on the development of emerging treatment modalities, like radiotherapy, pressure garment and silicone gel sheeting. But most treatment options are not very promising. And some may involve the development of anti-scarring drugs, which needs a very strict regulatory from FDA, thus are very costly. Inspired by an earlier study of drug-eluting micro-needles for scar management, this study is evaluating the impact of drug-free micro-needles on regulating cell proliferation and cell death. Two kinds of micro- needles were applied to five kinds of cells, including abnormal scarring fibroblasts and normal dermal fibroblasts. Through the quantitative measurement, it can be seen that these drug-free micro-needles could possibly become a non-invasive, cheap and user- friendly treatment for scar management in the future.