Starch based hydrogel with potential biomedical application as artificial skin

Abstract

Hydrogel wound dressing can protect injured skin and keep the wound
surface appropriately moist to speed the healing process by absorbing
exudates while maintaining the products of tissue repair, including growth
factor and lysosomes, in contact with the wound. The design and
development of novel membrane of hydrogel prepared by crosslinking of
polyvinyl alcohol with starch suspension using glutaraldehyde as a
crosslinking agent was attempted. The membrane was characterized by
FTIR spectroscopy. The mechanical property of the hydrogel membrane
was characterized by tensile tests. The diffusion coefficient of salicylic acid
through the membrane was also evaluated using diaphragm cell
technique. FTIR spectra of the membrane indicated the absence of free
aldehydic groups of glutaraldehyde. The membrane had sufficient strength
to be used as artificial skin. At 30 °C, the measured value of the diffusion
coefficient of salicylic acid was approximately 4.11×10- 6 cm2/s.
(Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 9:23 – 29, 2006)

Keywords: Wound Healing; Hydrogels; Crosslinking; Polyvinyl Alcohol; Starch