Scientists have once again created a new tool in the stiff battle against erectile dysfunction—and this time, it doesn’t involve a pill.
Researchers in China published a study in the journal Matter on Jan. 4 where they created an artificial tissue that restored erectile function in pigs. The material, dubbed artificial tunica albuginea (ATA), imitates the tunica albuginea tissue in penises that’s used to create and maintain erections. The team believes that it could one day help humans recover from their own injuries—not just for penises, but also critical organs like the heart.
“We largely foresaw the problems and results of the ATA construction process, but we were still surprised by the results in the animal experiments, where the penis regained normal erection immediately after the use of ATA,” Xuetao Shi, a biomaterials researcher at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, China and a co-author of the study, said in a statement.
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Source: Scientists Gave Pigs Bionic Boners with Artificial Tissue
