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Artificially-colored SEM image of sugar strands and polymer coating
An artificially-colored scanning electron microscope image of sugar strands (yellow) and a polymer coating (blue). Researchers developed a technique using sugar filaments spun like cotton candy and coated with a polymer to create a scaffold of tiny synthetic tubes that might serve as conduits for regenerating nerves severed in accidents or damaged by disease.
Learn more in the Eurekalert news story Spun-sugar fibers spawn sweet technique for nerve repair. (Date of Image: 2009)
Credit: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Basic Medical Sciences; Center for Paralysis Research, Purdue University
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