As the world's population ages, the incidence of diseases such as diabetes and obesity continues to increase, and the demand for chronic wound care, such as pressure ulcers and ulcers, which are closely related to the elderly, is increasing. New medical dressings are gaining increasing attention in the world of medical and health care, especially antibacterial alginate dressings which are rapidly developing due to their unique advantages.
Alginate dressings promote wound healing
Alginate is a natural polysaccharide copolymer derived from marine plants and is a water-soluble polymer. Since its discovery in 1881, alginate has been used in various industries. In recent years, alginate has been widely used in wound care as a new material. When in contact with a wound, the metal ions in alginate dressings exchange with the sodium ions in wound exudate to form a gel, which has a protective and healing effect on the wound. Alginate dressings have the advantages of effectively shortening the healing time of wounds, reducing the risk of wound infections, and enabling patients to change the dressing themselves at home, which can also alleviate the increasing need for wound care.
Compared with ordinary gauze, bandages, and sponge dressings, alginate dressings have many advantages, such as high moisture absorption, biodegradability, compatibility, and easy removal. These dressings can be used to stop bleeding and promote wound healing, treating various types of skin ulcers, such as pressure sores, diabetic foot, and radiation ulcers. They have the characteristics of quick action and high cure rate without irritation or damage to the skin mucosa.
Applications of alginate dressings
Currently, functional dressings prepared by different methods have not only improved the shortcomings of simple alginate dressings, but also endowed them with more properties. For example, silver ion alginate dressings have the characteristics of high exudate absorption and bactericidal effects, with the antibacterial matrix including calcium alginate, hydroxypropyl cellulose, and silver ion complex. The medical wound dressing continuously releases silver ions when absorbing wound exudate, maintaining a bactericidal effect. Chitosan alginate dressings also have a certain antibacterial effect and can slowly release antibacterial substances. They have good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and effective immune isolation effect.
In addition, alginate dressings have unique antibacterial effects. Through plasma technology, cationic polymer coatings are formed on the surface of the dressing, and the coating is covalently bonded to the substrate and can maintain stability for a long time. Therefore, antibacterial alginate dressings have a mild antibacterial effect, further reducing the risk of bacterial infection and causing no harm to the human body, with a wide range of applications.
In recent years, as a new material, alginate has been widely used in the wound care industry, and is used to produce "wet therapy" products, such as gels, sponges, and non-woven fiber dressings used to cover wounds. In fiber form, alginate fibers can also be processed into fabrics, non-woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and various composite materials to address specific wound care issues. Research has shown that when a wound is in a moist rather than a dry environment, epithelial cells migrate faster from the wound edge to the injured area than when the wound is dry.
