SPbPU: Biocompatible material to accelerate wound healing with electricity

Main Article: Wound Healing

2023: Building a biocompatible material for wound healing

The scientific group of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University has created biocompatible material that accelerates the healing of complex soft tissue lesions and affected skin areas in the treatment of chronic wounds. The university announced this on March 24, 2023.

The material is compatible with human cells and tissues, easily sterilized at high temperatures, used repeatedly, and also remains stable during electrical stimulation. The development uses graphene, a carbon material that when combined with a polymide (a class of polymers) makes it electrically conductive. The obtained material is used in wearable devices which interact with the affected skin area for treating chronic wounds and complex soft tissue injuries. According to the university, there are no industrial analogues of the material in the world.

SPBPUS scientists have proven that the material is biocompatible and not toxic to fibroblasts (skin cells). In Vitro experiments (in test tube) have shown that pre-electrostimulation on composite films increases the activity of human skin fibroblasts compared to intact cells.

{{quote 'As of March 2023, there are many devices that use electrical stimulation, but they have a significant disadvantage - the electrode that contacts the skin does not have sufficient biocompatibility, which limits the biomedical effect - wounds and scars heal for a long time. The use of the material we developed solves this problem and contributes to faster tissue healing, - said the project manager Vera Kodolova-Chukhontseva. }}

Research in recent decades has proven that the processes that occur during wound healing can be effectively controlled using electrical signals. In addition, the electric field has an antimicrobial and wound healing effect, prevents the formation of scar tissue.

The project is being carried out within the framework of a consortium, which includes the laboratory "Polymer materials for tissue engineering and transplantology" of SPBPU and the laboratory "Synthesis of high-heat-resistant polymers" of the Institute of High Molecular Compounds. RAS industrial The giants have already shown interest in the development, one of them is JSC. Schwabe Rostec