Light May Play a Key Role in Regenerative Medicine

• New research on the regenerative capabilities of light may change our approach to tissue regeneration.
• Researchers are calling this a new technique for regenerative medicine optogenetics.
• Optoceutics is a technique that uses a light beam to stimulate tissue regeneration. Furthermore, scientists believe that such a stimulus is better than the previous use of electrodes for the same purpose.

About the Research

This research about the healing potential of light comes from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Milan. Aside from the institute the researchers also come from two other Italian institutions. They are the University of Pavia and Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia. Findings from this study are available in the journal Science Advances.

Light and Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with the repair and healing of cellular tissue damage. For this purpose, doctors utilize various drugs, chemical catalysts, and physical stimulation. However, the existing techniques do not allow enough selectivity. That is, the treatment application cannot be under the complete control of the doctor.

With the use of light, the process of regeneration can be easier to control. This is because it is possible to strictly regulate the areas of tissue regeneration with the light beam. Just like with previous methods, the researchers working on this task stimulate tissue growth with special substances. Only for the purposes of this experiment, they were photoreactive substances.

The study results show that it is possible to stimulate blood vessel tissue regeneration with a light source. Not only that but they were also capable of exerting greater control in this process.

For more information on scientific breakthroughs check out this news article on the use of laser technology for blood testing.

Limitation

• This research considers the regenerative effects of light on blood vessel regeneration. That is why other cells have to go through the same process of testing. Only then can we know the full regenerative effects of light.

Sources

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-09/iidt-oan093019.php

http://www.iit.it/