Hydrogel Dressing Market Receives Injectable Gels for Tissue Regeneration

As per a published article in the online journal Nature Materials, a research team at UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed injectable hydrogels for rapid tissue regeneration. Earlier attempts of using hydrogel dressing along similar lines were futile as the rate of gel degradation exceeded the rate of tissue regeneration. This limitation was overcome with microporous scaffolds, that were constructed using annealed micro gel components. Constituent elements of these components, as well as their physical structure, are easily modified through microfluidic fabrication. It was observed that these scaffolds, when injected in the wounds, sped-up cell migration and initiated rapid tissue regeneration. 

"Achieving a biomaterial that promotes rapid regeneration while maintaining structural support has been a holy grail in the field of tissue engineering," said Dino Di Carlo, professor of bioengineering and co-principal investigator. "Our team has achieved this in an injectable form by combining tailored material chemistry and microfluidic fabrication of uniform spherical building blocks, each about the width of a human hair."

“Our technology is beautifully simple, as it utilizes any available chemistry to generate tiny gels that can be assembled into a large unit, leaving behind a path for cellular infiltration,” continues Segura, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and another co-principal investigator on the project.

Future applications of the hydrogel dressing market is being envisioned in complete wound management – right from treating deep and surgical lacerations to diabetic eruptions and all degrees of burns.

Hydrogel dressing market and biomedical engineering applications

Hydrogels are essentially hydrated polymers, which largely comprise of water molecules (about 90%) in a gel base. Hydrogel dressings date back to as early as the 1950s, when they were first introduced for wound care. Amorphous hydrogels, are provided in different forms for its medical applications. The freely flowing fluid form comes packed in tubes, sachets, or spray bottles. The same biomaterial is easily impregnated onto a clean absorbable surface, which is then used to gauge the wounds. A thin fiber mesh smeared with a layer of amorphous hydrogel comes in customizable sizes and with adhesive borders that lock on to surrounding healthy cells. What is more likeable about hydrogel dressing, is that they do not get unfortunately displaced or contaminated. The fact that they are translucent helps continuous assessment of progress in healing, without having to interfere with it.

It is important to understand the role of hydrogel dressings in tissue engineering and the overall mechanism. Speaking in terms of the latest invention by the UCLA research team, the microporous gel scaffold allows newer cells to grow into its interstitial voids. The process continues until gap created by missing tissues is entirely filled with new and healthy tissues. According to the research team, the microporous gel facilitates cell growth apart from protecting them.

Hydrogel dressings in wound care market

Certain wounds do not heal over time, as anticipated through automatic biological processes. Such complex wounds have a higher chance of getting infected, or house hazards of future complications. Therapeutic intervention is considered for getting rid of the wound. Surgical procedures available to treat such wounds usually compromise life of surrounding tissues that are not damaged. In most cases, apart from being highly uncomfortable, they are painful too. Patient surveys report that out of all available options, hydrogel dressings are far more cost-effective than others on the same list, and more comfortable too. 

Hydrogel dressings available at wound management market platforms are designed to retain moisture at the surface. They regulated the exchange of fluids between wound surface and its own internal structure. Instant effect of the dressing is to soothe the area and lessen pain. This assists the healthy tissues to separate from necrotic tissues and eschar through autolytic debridement. During their course of mechanism, they loosen slough and eventually absorb the exudates. This effectively eliminates any chances of infection induced from foreign particulates and the risks of maceration. The cleansing of space creates an ideal environment for wound bed preparation. The films are usually used to cover, or cap, the wound surfaces. Remember the quick and painful extraction of bandages, or gauges that caused a searing pain and at times, caused additional damage or irritation? Well, removing hydrogel bandages is nothing similar to that. In fact, the process is as soothing as it was when the film was first applied. 

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Market prospects for Hydrogel dressing

Hydrogel dressing market offer cost-effective interventions for diabetic and pressure ulcers. Regenerative medicine has advanced to a great extent in recent times. Clinical research results demonstrate that bioactive hydrogels have the ability to be modified structurally to encourage partial skin regeneration. Hydrogels further, could be possibly used as the next-gen skin alternative in treating partial or deep burns. With the ever rising population falling victim to type 2 diabetes and large incidences of burns registered each year, there would be no slowing of demand for advanced wound care at healthcare facilities. 

The hydrogel dressing market offerings will explore new avenues of demand and eventually its global market size would swell, effectively capturing a huge share of wound care industry. As per the findings of a report published by Allied Market Research, the U.S. hydrogel dressing market is estimated to generate revenue worth $258 million by the end of 2022. The net CAGR during 2016 to 2022 is forecast to be 7.0%. Business stakeholders in order to identify their profit prospects in different verticals of the industry keep a close eye on the current portfolio offerings. This helps them channelize their R&D activities and plan future market strategies.