A research group at Tokyo University of Science has successfully developed a new hydrogel for wound treatment using ingredients derived from seaweed and carbonated water.
Hydrogels have been shown to absorb exudates from skin tissue by covering the wound area, and at the same time promote wound healing by maintaining a moist environment, and their use as medical materials is attracting attention. There is. On the other hand, these wound treatment gels generally have ``adhesiveness'' to follow the movement of the skin and ``swellability'' to absorb exudate, so they remain firmly attached to the wound area. If the wound absorbs exudate and expands, there is a risk that the wound will be stretched and expand.
In response, this research group has developed a new method for wound treatment that has ``low adhesiveness'' and ``low swelling'' by adding carbonated water to a mixed aqueous solution of alginate and calcium carbonate, which are components of seaweed. developed a gel. Although the properties are completely opposite to those of conventional materials, experiments using wound model mice confirmed that the gel developed in this research has a high wound healing effect equivalent to that of hydrogel wound treatment materials used clinically. Furthermore, in the case of conventional gels, the area of the wound in wound model mice temporarily expanded due to its adhesive and swelling properties, but the new gel was demonstrated to suppress such expansion of the wound area.
The alginate used in this study was extracted from seaweed that washed ashore, and the study provides a path toward the design of environmentally friendly medical materials by synthesizing high-performance materials from waste materials. . Furthermore, by adjusting the concentration of calcium carbonate used in the synthesis, the transparency, gelation time, and degree of crosslinking of the gel for wound treatment can be adjusted, making it possible to control the physical properties of the gel according to the intended use. . Further development of this research is expected to lead to practical use as a next-generation wound treatment gel.
