Researchers at UC Irvine have developed a novel biomaterial to heal and regenerate tissues for chronic wounds. The biomaterial, referred to as GelMA-AN, has immunomodulating properties engineered for complete incorporation into injured tissue while enhancing the regenerative healing activities of immune and stromal cells. It is based on a gelatin scaffold supplemented with Methacrylic Anhydride and immunomodulating apoptotic neutrophil cells. All components have high biocompatibility due to structural and biochemical similarities to the host wound environment. This combination of the hydrogel scaffold and apoptotic neutrophils has uncovered a wound healing mechanism that acts through immunomodulation to enhance regenerative healing. The mechanism works by modulating immune cells to drive them from inflammatory to healing activities that in turn stimulate stromal cells to repair the skin and regenerate health skin appendages such as vasculature.

This patent application describes methods for non-invasive, label-free imaging of the cellular immune response in human skin using a nonlinear optical imaging system.

The disclosed methods offer a robust approach to accurately quantify skin optical properties across different skin tones, facilitating improved diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment in dermatology.

Brief description not available

Plasma medicine has emerged as a promising approach for treatment of biofilm-related and virus infections, assistance in cancer treatment, and treatment of wounds and skin diseases. However, an important challenge arises with the need to adapt control policies, often only determined after each treatment and using limited observations of therapeutic effects. Control policy adaptation that accounts for the variable characteristics of plasma and of target surfaces across different subjects and treatment scenarios is needed. Personalized, point-of-care plasma medicine can only advance efficaciously with new control policy strategies.To address this opportunity, UC Berkeley researchers have developed a novel control scheme for tailored and personalized plasma treatment of surfaces. The approach draws from concepts in deep learning, Bayesian optimization and embedded control. The approach has been demonstrated in experiments on a cold atmospheric plasma jet, with prototypical applications in plasma medicine.

Researchers from UC San Diego have developed a patent-pending device that solves all these major limitations. It is a quick, inexpensive, non-radiative, non-invasive,  point-of-care imaging modality.  The inventors created a fast,  point-of-care imaging technique that can image deep within soft tissues. This technique can be used to monitor. wound health over long periods of time.  This ultrasound imaging technology is poised to become a medical imaging tool to measure, and visualize wound size, progression, tunneling, and skin graft integration or rejection.

Brief description not available

Brief description not available

Red light exposure can have phototherapeutic effects on skin cells and other biological cells and tissues affected by UV damage. However, existing methods and devices using red light in DNA phototherapy have not identified the proper duration, intensity, or delivery mechanisms for optimal DNA repair. If the radiant intensity of the red light is too low, then exposure is inadequate and the repair biomarkers are not activated. Conversely, prolonged exposure to excessive electromagnetic radiation only furthers DNA damage. Moreover, in the context of skin treatment, excessive radiant intensity can burn tissue or have carcinogenic side effects. Thus, there is a need for a device and methods of use that provide safe, effective, and targeted red light DNA phototherapy.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and has been associated with poor quality of life and frequent complications requiring hospitalization and surgical procedures. Current therapies for IBD typically target neutralization of inflammatory cytokines, blockade of receptors, or inhibition of inflammatory cell functions. Despite current approaches, it is still difficult to control disease severity and maintain quality of life. One important phenotype of IBD that may offer an opportunity for gaining increased understanding of the disease is that up to 40% of individuals with inflammatory diseases of the colon have extra intestinal manifestations. Foremost in these extra intestinal symptoms are skin or oral disorders such as erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangreneosum and aphthous stomatitis. The presence of diseases associated with IBD at sites far from the gut support several hypotheses that IBD is a systemic disorder of circulating bone marrow derived immunocytes, a consequence of dysbiosis of the microbiome or a generalized disorder of epithelial function. Furthermore, appropriate function of the epithelial barrier is necessary to regulate the interactions between microbes and the host and maintain health.

Clinical treatment for scar-less wound healing remains a highly desired, yet unmet need. UCI researchers have developed a method to minimize scarring during wound healing through cellular reprograming that encourages formation of new skin fat cells. This novel therapy is non-surgical and applicable to multiple types of scars and aging skin.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) have discovered specific biomarkers that will enable innovations in diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring, and therapy of port wine stain (PWS) and other related syndromes.

UCLA researchers in the Departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Medicine have developed a novel method to treat melanoma.

The invention is a medical handheld device that carries out skin visual inspection simultaneously with blood flow measurements through integrating a Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI) system within a handheld compact dermoscope. Combining both features in one compact, cheap and easy to use device will generate accurate and elaborative functional data that will improve the accuracy and detection of diseases such as cancer.

Traditional anti-cancer treatments used for metastatic melanoma (skin cancer) can result in cell toxicity, poor efficacy, and low patient survival. UCI researchers have uncovered a class of potent compounds that inhibit cancer cell growth and induce cancer cell death by targeting RhoJ signaling pathways.

Medical devices are susceptible to contamination by harmful microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, which form biofilms on device surfaces. These biofilms are often resistant to antibiotics and other current treatments, resulting in over 2 million people per year suffering from diseases related to these contaminating microbes. Death rates for many of these diseases are high, often exceeding 50%. Researchers at UCI have developed a novel anti-bacterial and anti-fungal biocomposite that incorporates a nanopillared surface structure that can be applied as a coating to medical devices.

Media that contains nutrients and growth factors is necessary to grow all types of cells, a process that is widely used in many fields of research. Such media should be routinely changed either to different media or a fresh batch of the same media. This change currently involves either using a pipette to transfer cells from their current dish of media to a new dish, or aspirating the media out of the dish and replacing it with new media. Both methods have inherent risks to stressing and damaging the cells. Researchers at UCI have developed a unique dish for growing cells that allows for safer aspiration of the old media, which reduces stress and damage to the cells.

UCLA researchers in the Department of Bioengineering have developed an algorithm to assess the burn wound severity and predict its future outcomes using Terahertz imaging.

Researchers at UCI have developed a nonlinear optical microscopy (NLOM) instrument for the rapid and non-destructive imaging of wide areas and large volumes of biological tissue. Imaging can be performed either ex vivo or in vivo, and with sub-micron resolution at higher scanning speeds than previously possible.

Melanin is a brown pigment that is delivered to keratinocytes in the skin after being excreted as melanosomes to form melanocytes. The primary function of melanin is to prevent UV-induced nuclear DNA damage. The biological system for induction, production, transfer and degradation of melanosomes is critical to controlling human skin health. Defects in melanin production in humans can cause diseases, such as skin cancer, vitiligo and albinism, many of which lack effective treatments due to their genetic origins. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in the production of synthetic melanin, as a substitute for natural melanin.

Soft-tissue injuries and organ transplantation are common in modern combat scenarios. Organs and tissues harvested for transplantation need to be preserved during transport, which can be very difficult. Micro and nanobubbles (MNBs) offer a new technology that could supply oxygenation to such tissues prior to transplantation, thus affording better recovery and survival of patients. Described here is a novel device capable of producing MNB solutions that can be used to preserve viability and function of such organs/tissue. Additionally, these solutions may be used with negative pressure wound therapy to heal soft-tissue wounds.

This novel dermal gel formulation is an easy and highly effective method for removing and reducing absorption of skin contaminants.

Background: Therapeutic delivery of genes is a rapidly evolving technique used to treat or prevent a disease at the root of the problem. The global transgenic market is currently $24B, growing at an annual projected rate of 10%. Currently, a variation of this technique is widely used on animals and crops for production of desirable proteins, but this is a heavily infiltrated market. Thus, entering the gene therapy segment is more promising and would enhance the growth of this industry.  Brief Description: UCR Researchers have identified a novel transposon from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. This mobile DNA sequence can insert itself into various functional genes to either cause or reverse mutations. They have successfully developed a transposon vector system that can be used in both unicellular & multicellular organisms, which can offer notable insight to improve current transgenic technologies as well as methods of gene therapy.

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition characterized by recurrent episodes of flushing, erythema, vasodilation, telangiectasia, edema, papules, pustules, hyperplasia, fibroplasia, itching, burning, pain, and skin tightness. Symptoms of rosacea are exacerbated by sun exposure, hot weather, immersion in hot water, high humidity, sweating, exercise, emotional stress, and spicy food. The skin condition usually begins between the ages of 30 to 50 and occurs more frequently in women than men. An estimated 16 million people are affected by rosacea inflammation in the United States. Oral and topical antibiotics are usually the first line of treatments prescribed for rosacea patients. However, they can cause serious side effects in some patients and do not address the underlying condition. Topical application of steroids may also help alleviate the symptoms, but it can also aggravate the condition. In addition, long term treatments can be inconvenient, lasting for as long as two years.

UCLA scientists have developed a novel polymer conjugate of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) for use in commercial and possibly clinical applications. This is the first bFGF conjugate to enhance bioactivity and stability under environmental stressors.