A research team funded by the National Science Council announced yesterday that combining certain nanomaterials with stem cells could offer a new cardiovascular regeneration treatment.
In the past, medical applications of nanomaterials have focused mainly on the detection and treatment of cancer, said research team leader Yeh Chen-sheng (葉晨聖), a professor of physical chemistry in National Cheng Kung University.
The nanomaterials used now have multiple functions of carrying medicine to the designated organs and dissolving in the diseased cells, tracking the effects of medicine and serving as a more effective treatment for cancer and congestive heart failure, he said.
According to team member Patrick Hsieh (謝清河), an associate professor and attending surgeon at the university’s Department of Surgery and Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, the major problem for congestive heart failure treatment is organ transplant rejection. Injected stem cells have a low survival rate, and their use is too time consuming when treating acute myocardial infarction (sudden heart attack).
Heart disease was among the top five causes of death in Taiwan, killing nearly 500,000 people, according to a report on the 10 major causes of death between 2001 and 2005.
The team is now working on taking their research to a clinical level, hoping to make a breakthrough in the treatment of heart disease.
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