Over the years, with the rise in demand for developments like anti-bacterial bandages, scaffolds for tissue culture, and prosthesis for implants, medical textile has taken on a new meaning. Medical textile's application in wound healing and infection control is appreciated for assisting rapid recovery.
Professionals in life-threatening work like firefighters, military, and police personnel benefit from advancements in medical textile. Hospital emergency rooms witness several critical cases every hour where medical textile can save a patient's life.
One of the recent breakthroughs in medical textile is nano bleed-stop technology. Textile applications of nanotechnology are already growing, and the recent addition of nano bleed-stop technology will strengthen nanotech medical textile made from electrospun nanofiber technology.
Application in textile
Electrospun nanofiber technology has revolutionized the medical industry. However, the nanofiber net is delicate and cannot be used on its own, so conventional dressings are coated with electrospun nanofiber to harvest their full potential. Electrospun nanofiber dressing enhances moisture management and offers unmatched barrier properties, besides assisting in the control of fluid drainage.
A polymer solution is electrospun into very fine fibers, which are then collected on a grounded electrode. The basic electrospinning unit contains a needle nozzle, a high voltage power supply, a container for spinning fluid, and an electrode collector. Electrospun nanofiber technology is also widely used in tissue engineering to repair, maintain, replace, or enhance the function of a particular organ. Electrospun nanofiber mats are used for burn wounds, as they exhibit good cellular compatibility and support cell attachment and proliferation.
While electrospun nanofiber technology is applicable for regular medical care, recent developments promise to further smoothen post-operative patient care.
China's breakthrough
Qingdao University in China has developed electrospun medical glue hemostasis technology in agreement with the reconstruction of organ integrity theory. They have designed an electrostatic spinning device which has been used in an experiment to stop blood flow during the surgical removal of an animal liver. The device electrospun medical adhesive into nanofiber and accurately placed it on the wound via an air guide. The device is expected to be safe, reduce surgery time, and also medical care cost.
However, there are inherent problems associated with this technology. The glue, when applied to larger wounds, may make the hemostatic membrane irregular and cause its rupture, leading to excessive post-operative bleeding.
A receptive market
The medical fraternity has been receptive of nanofibre technology used in bandages and sponges to control bleeding. In the past, a clotting agent, thrombin, has been layered onto sponges to control and stop bleeding within a few minutes of application. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a nanoscale coating, which is used on sponges to stop bleeding instantly.
Carrying these special sponges to the battlefield or keeping them ready for fire fighters in emergency rooms can save several lives. Though many hospitals already use this technology, the liquid comes in a bottle and is sprayed on sponges only when there is a need. MIT's sponge has a spray-on biological nanoscale coating that contains layers of thrombin and tannic acid. The shelf life of the sponge makes it a feasible option for war fields and also for work place safety.
China's advanced approach to electrospun medical glue hemostasis technology is yet to be used by hospitals regularly. Researchers need to work on getting rid of the flaws that can result in major post-operative damage.
Technical growth
Professor Long Yunze from Qiingdao University has made progress in developing electrospun zinc oxide nanofibre and optoelectronic devices. The research group has used electro spinning technique to prepare cerium doped zinc oxide nanofibres. MIT is working on developing a sponge that has a combination of bleed-stop coating and an antibiotic layer to ward off infection.
Another research sponsored by the United States of Americas Army is on at Texas A&M, MIT and Harvard. The material researchers are working on consists of shear-thinning nanocomposite hydrogels made from gelatine and synthetic silicate nanoplatelets.
Nanofibres have proved to be a huge success in medical textile as they offer anti-bacterial, self cleaning, water repulsion, moisture absorbency and other properties to regular textile. In order to realise the full potential of electrospun nanofibres, research is on around the world. As risk at regular workplaces mounts rapidly, nano bleed-stop technology is the need of the hour.
References:
1. Ntcresearch.org
2. Medgadget.com
3. Cewrite.com
4. Nanowerk.com
5. Popsci.com
6. Innovationintextiles.com
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