2022.11.14 Wasting muscles built back better

MAGENTA Figure 1 caption: This image shows examples of MAGENTA prototypes fabricated with a “shape memory alloy” spring and an elastomer, and how their sizes compare to that of a one cent coin. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University MAGENTA Figure 2 caption: This illustration explains the MAGENTA concept developed by Nam and Mooney. The view zooms from the device implanted in a future patient (left) into a muscle to which it adheres (top right), and where it does its work of extending and contracting the muscle along its length (bottom middle), all the way down to the multifunctional material’s composition and interface with muscle tissue (bottom right). Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University MAGENTA Figure 3 caption: The MAGENTA device with its tough hydrogel adhesive surface (shown on the left) was implanted on a mouse’s calf muscle that in the atrophy model then was immobilized for a longer period of time to induce muscle wasting. Actuating the device by turning the electricity on lets it contract, generating mechanical stimulation to the underlying muscle, whereas turning the electricity off allows the device and muscle to relax (top row on the right). The panels on the bottom right show where muscle tissue is displaced as a result of contraction and relaxation of MAGENTA with a color shift from blue to red indicating displaced areas in muscle tissue. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University