Near future
Contact us
  • Home
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Architecture
  • energia
  • Transportation
  • Spazio
  • AI
  • concepts
  • Gadgets
  • Italy Next
  • H+
July 1 2022

Coronavirus / Russia-Ukraine

Near future

News to understand, anticipate, improve the future.

No Result
View All Result

News to understand, anticipate, improve the future.

Read in:  Chinese (Simplified)EnglishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseRussianSpanish

Hydrafil, injectable hydrogel that repairs the pain of degenerative disc disease

Easy to inject, minimally invasive and very effective: the first results of a hydrogel that can do a lot of harm ... to the back pain of degenerative disc disease

Gianluca Ricciodi Gianluca Riccio
in Medicine
Share50Pin12Tweet32SendShare9ShareShare6
Hydrafil, injectable hydrogel that repairs the pain of degenerative disc disease
June 9 2022
⚪ Reads in 3 minutes
A A

Human tests have led to effective and safe treatment for chronic back pain caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD). Therapy is much less invasive than others in 2020 had received the OK to the tests from the FDA, the US drug authority. And now it shows to work.

The intervertebral discs protect the vertebrae but, like other parts of the body, deteriorate with age. The liquid contained in many people's discs can dry out or leak, causing backache, discomfort and limiting mobility. Unfortunately, therapies are mostly limited to rest, physiotherapy and pain relievers, or disc removal or replacement surgery. Some experiments are focusing on senolytic drugs, but are now taking their first steps.

Degenerative disc disease & hydrogel: human experimentation

Doctors now have a new approach: a hydrogel that can be injected into the spine to repair the cushioning of the disc and relieve the pain of degenerative disc disease. Is called Hydrafil, and you have to imagine it a bit like those foams that are injected into the walls to repair the cracks.

Maybe you are also interested

Janus, hydrogel inspired by snail slime that accelerates the care of the tendons

An autonomous SmartFarm grows plants with water vapor taken from the air

High-speed printing method brings us closer to 3D organ printing

Developed hydrogel which becomes firmer with increasing heat

The human tests involved 20 patients aged between 22 and 69, all suffering from chronic low back pain caused by degenerative disc disease. All had described their pain starting at 4 on a 10-point scale, and all had reported only mild relief from existing therapies.

degenerative disc disease
degenerative disc disease can be addressed with a promising "repairing" hydrogel.

How does it work?

The gel is heated to a thick liquid, which is then injected with a 17 gauge needle into the affected discs. When it cools down to body temperature, it forms an implant with the same biomechanical properties as the natural disc. 

The patients were then followed up for 6 months to assess their recovery from degenerative disc disease after the injection.

The results

All participants reported improvements in pain and mobility. On a scale of 0 to 10, the average pain level reported dropped from 7,1 to 2. In a questionnaire about how low back pain from their degenerative disc disease prevented them from carrying out daily activities, the average score dropped from 48 to 6.

"If these results are validated by further studies, this technique will be an extraordinary treatment for chronic low back pain in those who have not obtained adequate relief from conservative care," he says. Douglas Beall, one of the authors of the study. The study will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the USA Radiology Society (if you want to follow it, you can find it here).

Of course, this first study was small, and 20 patients still aren't enough to make big claims. But the team is continuing the tests, the gel is minimally invasive and easy to manage, the promise is great.

And my back hurts, so get a move on.

tags: hydrogelback
Previous post

The 'informer' bees help the Carabinieri to fight pollution

Next Post

A photonic processor (really) recognizes billions of images per second

COLLABORATE

To submit articles, disclose the results of a research or scientific discoveries write to the editorial staff

    archive

    Have a look here:

    An Ark on the Moon: 6,7 million DNA samples in a lunar bunker
    Spazio

    An Ark on the Moon: 6,7 million DNA samples in a lunar bunker

    The gene bank on Svalbard shows some cracks, and a team of scientists suggests moving the ...

    Read More
    In Japan they book fake planes for virtual vacations

    In Japan they book fake planes for virtual vacations

    Hair loss is linked to air pollution: first scientific evidence

    Hair loss is linked to air pollution: first scientific evidence

    Smart contact lenses are coming

    Smart contact lenses are coming

    Electronic telepathy: closer than ever.

    Electronic telepathy: closer than ever.

    The daily tomorrow

    Futuroprossimo.it provides news on the future of technology, science and innovation: if there is something that is about to arrive, here it has already arrived. FuturoProssimo is part of the network ForwardTo, studies and skills for future scenarios.

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Environment
    Architecture
    Artificial intelligence
    Gadgets
    concepts
    Design

    Staff
    Archives
    Advertising
    Privacy Policy

    Medicine
    Spazio
    Robotica
    Work
    Transportation
    energia

    To contact the FuturoProssimo editorial team, write to [email protected]

    Chinese Version
    Édition Française
    Deutsche Ausgabe
    Japanese version
    English Edition
    Edição Portuguesa
    Русское издание
    Spanish edition

    This work is distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
    © 2021 Futuroprossimo

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Tech
    • Health
    • Environment
    • Architecture
    • energia
    • Transportation
    • Spazio
    • AI
    • concepts
    • Gadgets
    • Italy Next
    • H+