Thursday, March 6, 2008

Gecko Feet!

The gecko is one of nature's most agile acrobats, able to scoot up a wall or cling upside-down by a single toe. Now scientists are mimicking the gravity-defying pattern on the bottom of the lizard's feet to create a new kind of surgical bandage.
Geckos have millions of hair-like structures on each foot pad, which allow them to "stick" on smooth surfaces, even glass.
Inspired by the feet of the agile little reptile, researchers at Harvard-MIT used nanotechnology to mould a similar pattern for a bandage, covered with tiny pillars each 100 times finer than a human hair.
It's not the first time that a gecko-like tape has been made. What's different about this one is that it's got a sugar-based adhesive to keep it firmly in place -- and its inventors think that could usher in a new means of repairing tears in organs and other tissues from surgery or injury. While surgeons have sutures and staples to make repairs, they are not always the best option for certain operations. There is a great need for an easy-to-use adhesive tape that could either replace sutures and staples in some cases, or augment them in others.

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