The PAINT system is a new wound dressing technology being developed by scientists from China’s Nanjing University. Unlike traditional wound dressings that simply cover the injury and kill harmful bacteria, the PAINT system incorporates a pen that allows doctors to paint a gelatinous healing ink directly into wounds.
The name PAINT is an acronym for “portable bioactive ink for tissue healing.”
This new system consists of a 3D-printing pen that contains a sodium alginate gel and particles known as extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are known to be naturally produced by white blood cells and play a significant role in reducing inflammation and forming new blood vessels at injury sites.
The gel and EVs mix at the tip of the pen to form a sturdy viscous ink that can be extruded into cuts of any shape or size.
In tests performed on human epithelial cells, the application of the ink shifted the cells into the proliferated phase of the healing process. This resulted in the formation of new blood vessels and a reduction in inflammatory substances.
Additionally, when tested on injured mice, the PAINT system was found to boost collagen fiber production. Large wounds on mice that were treated with this system were almost completely healed after 12 days whereas wounds on an untreated control group were “not nearly as far along in the healing process” at the time.
The PAINT system represents a significant advancement in wound healing technology and has the potential to improve patient outcomes.
By allowing doctors to paint healing ink directly into wounds, the PAINT system could accelerate the healing process and reduce scarring.
This research led by Dan Li, Xianguang Ding, and Lianhui Wang, was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.