There is a hydrophilic material that is called a hydrogel. Hydrophilic means that it is a substance that can absorb a substantial amount of water. It is thought to be a substance that will be able to revolutionize medicine. To put this into context, the human body is capable of retaining up to 60% water. A hydrogel, on the other hand, can hold up to 90% water.

There are many scientific applications for this ability to retain so much water, as well as many medical treatments that could be improved upon by simply using this material. Here are many of the medical applications of hydrogels, a substance that will change the face of modern medicine.

Overview Of Hydrogel

This is a substance that is made of water insoluble polymers. It is capable of swelling up, as a result of absorbing water, without losing its molecular cohesion. The term itself was first presented back in the 1800s. It has been very useful in modern medicine because of its inherent biocompatibility. It acts like a tissue, and therefore researchers in biomedical fields have seen this to be a revolutionary product.

One of the most common uses for this material is in the production of contact lenses. However, the way that hydrogel is used today goes far beyond providing people with better eyesight. It is now used in many different medical treatments including helping cancer patients and those with cardiovascular disease in the family.

How Is Hydrogel Used Today?

There are several primary areas where hydrogels are used quite commonly. The first is already been mentioned. Not only can it help produce contact lenses for people that need glasses, it can also be used as a hygiene product and is the perfect complement to dressing wounds. It has many commercial uses.

For example, in the industry of tissue engineering, and also in the development of drug delivery strategies, it has shown great promise. However, it is the very high cost of producing hydrogels which has limited its expansion into other markets.

Why The Medical Industry Prefers Using Hydrogels

The reason that medical practitioners, as well as research scientists, like to use hydrogels is because it has many preferable attributes. Not only can it contain a high amount of water, it is soft, flexible, and it is biocompatible. When this material is made, it uses a combination of synthetic and natural hydrophilic polymers. When they are chemically cross-linked, you are able to create this product. It has an uncanny resemblance to the appearance of living tissue which is why it can be so helpful in biomedical areas. Used to create tissue engineering scaffolds, it is a unique product that has no equal in the medical and scientific industry.

Why Are Hydrogels Used In Dressing Wounds?

There are several reasons why this substance is so useful in dressing wounds. For example, it has an almost instantaneous soothing and cooling effect when placed on the skin. When people have scraped their knee, or if they have been burned, this substance can act as a permeable Band-Aid that actually accelerates the speed at which the person will heal. Likewise, people that suffer from shingles or chickenpox have used this substance to manage the condition. There are many different companies that produce this including IntraSite, Purilon, Solugel and Solosite, all of which produce both thin and thick variations of this product.

How Is This Material Used With Cancer Patients?

Medical doctors have been using this substance with their cancer patients for quite some time. Due to its solubility, cancer fighting drugs can be tethered to this substance, allowing the pharmaceuticals to be delivered in a sustained release delivery. Hydrogels also have the ability to sense the environment.

By using certain types of equipment with hydrogel, you are able to detect temperature changes, changes in pH levels, and also monitor the amount of metabolites that are present.

What Is The Future For Hydrogels And The Medical Industry?

Currently, modern science is working with hydrogels to improve how heart disease is treated. Additionally, it has been very helpful to people that suffer from type I diabetes that are in constant need of injecting insulin. Instead of having to deliver the insulin manually, the solubility of hydrogels allows this material to be infused into the gel itself.  In the same way that it can be used as a time release product for certain pharmaceuticals, it has shown great promise in the sustained delivery of insulin into the body.

Medical doctors will actually insert hydrogels underneath the skin, creating a permanent source for insulin in the body to avoid the need of needles. This is a vast improvement over taking insulin orally which tends to work very poorly because of the hydrochloric acid in the stomach which can compromise the insulin. In the same way, chemotherapy sessions require the injection of chemicals into the body.

Using hydrogels, this could also be eliminated to some degree. Finally, more advancements have been made in the use of hydrogels and tissue repair. There are even those that use this material to fight the aging process. By placing this material on your face at night, it holds the skin firm, and can also keep the skin moist on a perpetual basis.

Although this material has existed for more than 50 years, it is only now that is applications have been used to this extent. Advancements in modern medicine, as well as more ingenuity of thinking, have made hydrogel the substance of choice for multiple medical treatments. As time passes, there will likely be additional discoveries in which hydrogel will play a pivotal role. Its ability to retain liquid substances makes this the perfect material for sustained delivery of medicine that is beneficial either topically or used within the body.

Now that you know a little bit more about the many medical applications of hydrogels, you may want to speak with your medical doctor about what options you have available in relation to this unique hydrophilic material.

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