1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to a wound dressing and particularly to a nano-composite wound dressing. The embodiments herein more particularly relate to a controlled drug release wound dressing that is sensitive to infection. The embodiments herein also relate to a method of synthesizing the nano-composite wound dressing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many microorganisms like bacteria, viruses or fungi can cause infection in wounds. Most of the infectious wounds begin with bacteria invasion like staphylococcus and Pseudomonas bacteria. Polluted water, dust or other materials help the bacteria to create infection. The most important method of preventing infection is using antibiotics.
The smart hydrogel with response to infection has been introduced by Masao Tanihara et al. in 1997, which composed of a 3D structure of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) linked to a peptide group. But a disadvantage of this kind of smart hydrogels wound dressings is the sudden release of drug. This leads to a complete release of a drug in a short period of time instead of their slow release requirement for a treatment of the infection.
Wound dressings cover the wounds and improve the wound repair conditions. Mechanical properties of these covers, for example, tensile strength, elongation, adherence and stiffness are the most important factors in the study of functional wound dressings. An ideal wound dressing should full-fill all the desired mechanical properties, optimum humidity on the wound surface and speeding up the repair process/mechanism.
The gels or nanocomposite hydrogels are similar to other polymer-clay nanocomposites in a distribution of layer clay silicates in their structures. The clay layers can distribute in a gel matrix among three ways: 2-phases micro-composites, diffusion nanocomposites, and diffusion nanocomposites with layer clay silicates. There are some major differences in the order of polymeric chains structure of nanocomposite gels in comparison with other nanocomposite materials. There are some cross linking of polymeric chains in the clay layers and also inside the chains in the nanocomposite gels. These linking provide a complex 3D structure with the association of clay layers. In most cases, an order of silicate layers is disrupted by cross linking the nanocomposite gels. Therefore, these nanocomposite materials usually have a penetrative structure with a change of silicate clay layers structure.
In a preparation of nanocomposite gels, the most convenient way is a penetration of polymeric chains into the clay layers and then cross linking these chains. Some other polymeric-clay nanocomposite preparation methods reported elsewhere are in situ polymerization. Networking and cross linking methods in nanocomposite gels are same as used in other polymeric gels like use of networking agents, γ rays, heating and cooling treatment, etc. Nanocomposite gels have the potential of high swelling in liquid environment like other polymeric gels.
3D structures are composed of linked polymeric chains with many applications in different fields. Water or liquid materials are the major chemical components of these polymeric products (more than 70% wt). Therefore, they have low mechanical strength. These low mechanical properties of polymeric gels are problematic in biomedical uses, which are more problematic in hydrogel wound dressings.
Low tensile strength and high adherence causes wound dressing to adhere into wound tightly in some cases. This event disrupts wound repair and also makes it difficult to change the wound dressing without physiological saline solutions. Combination of polymeric hydrogels and nanocomposites is an effective way to solve these problems.
Hence there is a need for developing a wound dressing material loaded with a drug that is capable of slowly releasing a drug and preventing from infection in wounds.
The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.