Bioabsorbable Polymer Optical Waveguides For Deep-Tissue Photomedicine

bioabsorbable waveguidesA new technique, discovered by researchers at the University of St Andrews and Harvard Medical School, which delivers light deeper into human tissue than previously possible, could help heal wounds faster.

Thin flexible optical fibers and waveguides using biocompatible polymers, such as lactic-acid based polymers and photo-crosslinkable hydrogels, have been developed by the team, which are then absorbed within the human body with no need for invasive removal.

Find out more about this work in our latest Nature Communications paper (doi: 10.1038/ncomms10374).