Fibrotic Midnight Dragon

Fibrotic Midnight Dragon

Collections: Now On Display, Image Award Winners

2024 Award Winner

William J. Jeang, Bryan M. Wong, Alexis L. Jiang, Robert S. Langer, Daniel G. Anderson

Koch Institute at MIT

Medical implants often malfunction and require surgical replacement due to an immune reaction called fibrosis—a process that encases foreign objects in dense tissue.

The Anderson and Langer Labs are developing new “immunocloaking” coatings that help devices evade immune detection.

This image captures a silicone implant undergoing fibrosis. Encroaching tissue forms a dragon's head shape of collagen and new blood vessels, while clouds of immune cells cover the surface.

A tube of cloudy, dragon-shaped tissue enclosed in a translucent bubble.

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