Composite Gels and Methods of their Use in Tissue Repair, Drug Delivery, and as Implants

Gel materials, such as hydrogel materials, typically lose mechanical strength as they swell. This property of gels limits their use in both biological (e.g., cartilage repair) and non-biological (e.g., engineering and construction sealing and repair) applications. Innovative gels in both medical and non-medical fields sorely are needed.Recent innovations in this space, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), include self-reinforcing, composite gels.   These gels comprise novel combinations of solvents and swellable crosslinked polymer particles.  Exemplary solvents include water, and organic solvents as are known in theart such as dimethyl sulfoxide and tetrahydrofuran. Additional solvents include alcohols (ethyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, isop ropyl alcohol, butanol, isobutyl alcohol, glycerol, benzyl alcohol), glycols (ethylene glycol, propylene glycol), organosulfur compounds (dimethyl sulfoxide), higher alkanes (pentadecane, hexadecane, heptadecane, dodecane), hydrocarbons (gasoline, petroleum, n-octane), esters (ethyl acetate, propyl acetate), ketones (methyl ethyl ketone, methyl propyl ketone, diethyl ketone), silicone fluids (cyclosiloxanes, organosiloxane liquids, hexamethyldisoloxane, pentamethylpolysiloxane), and others, and combinations of solvents.  Swellable crosslinked microgel polymer particles comprise hyaluronic aci d, a proteoglycan, a polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, a polyvinylpyrrolidone, d...
Source: NIH OTT Licensing Opportunities - Category: Research Authors: Source Type: research