Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DTduDYIjG7f/Scientists at Canada’s McGill University have developed a novel injectable gel that could one day help people recover their voices after vocal cord injury and avoid repeated restorative procedures.Our voices are normal when vocal cords meet and produce vibrations that are modified by ours lips and tongues. Voice loss often becomes persistent when injured vocal cords fail to meet and produce the necessary vibrations. Current injectable treatments move the cords together but break down quickly necessitating multiple injections. Each additional injection can increase the risk of further damage to the delicate vocal cords.In a preclinical study published in the journal Biomaterials, McGill researchers show that their newly developed hydrogel, made from natural tissue proteins, stays intact for weeks. This is far longer than existing materials and gives injured vocal cords sufficient time to heal properly.The gel has not yet been tested in humans. Once clinical tri