Sealing wounds with hydrogel

Scientists at the University of Delaware have invented a biomaterial with anti-bacterial properties that could help repair damaged tissue when it is injected into a wound.

The low-viscosity gel solidifies almost on contact with a wound, and could help to regenerate healthy tissue in a cancerous liver, heal a biopsy site or provide an anti-bacterial pain-killing solution to wounded soldiers in the field.

Hydrogels are formed from networks of super-absorbent, chain-like polymers. Although not water soluble, they are able to soak up large amounts of water, and their porous structure allows nutrients and cell wastes to pass through them.

The researchers, Joel Schneider and Darrin Pochan, have developed a peptide-based hydrogel that, once implanted in the human body, become scaffolds for cells to hold onto and grow. Such cells include fibroblasts, which form connective tissue, and osteoblasts, which form bones.

‘They're like rebar when you're building something with concrete,’ Schneider said. ‘They give the cement something to hang onto.’