New nanoparticles help to detect serious scarring of wounds

A new way of seeing when heavy wound scars are forming, and providing doctors the chance to intervene, has been developed by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Northwestern University.

The new technique was developed by a team led by Assistant Professor Xu Chenjie from NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, nanoscience expert Professor Chad A Mirkin from Northwestern University, United States, and Dr Amy S Paller, Chair of Dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Using new nanoparticles, the research team has shown in animals and human skin samples the potential to quickly and accurately predict whether a wound is likely to lead to excessive scarring.

The research has been published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.