Abdominal injuries are among the most difficult ones to treat, and internal bleeding needs to be stopped as quickly as possible, whether on the battlefield or at a medical stabilization point. The health and often human life depend on whether the first aid kit has high-quality means for emergency treatment.
Researchers from the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies (ICCT) at Lviv Polytechnic National University set out to develop such a means. Recently, their project ‘Development of hydrogel means for emergency treatment of penetrating abdominal wounds within the framework of the creation of the Center for Research on New Polymeric Materials for Medicine’ was successful at the NRFU call ‘Infrastructures for Advanced Research’.
The project will be implemented by an interesting and professional group. It includes experienced researchers (Volodymyr Samaryk, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Serhii Varvarenko, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Nataliia Nosova, Doctor of Technical Sciences) and early-career researchers. “Our group includes, for example, a postgraduate student, Solomiya Katsapila whose master’s thesis was on the creation of a hemostatic agent to stop critical bleeding. We also involve students in the research. We treat their work with great respect. By the way, we have a rule: defending a doctoral thesis does not exempt you from having to wash your lab glassware. Therefore, early-career researchers are not over-burdened with routine work”, noted Sc.D. Volodymyr Samaryk, PI and Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry of the ICCT.
What kind of means do the researchers plan to create within the framework of the project? What experience do they have in this area?
The PI said that the group has been working on hydrogel means for over 15 years. Based on their development in 2014, the manufacture of hydrogel therapeutic reinforced wound dressings was launched, and in March 2024 – the semi-industrial manufacture of ‘Aquior’ hydrogel dressings.
“From February 26 to March 8, 2022, we practically did not leave this pilot plant for the manufacture of ‘Aquior’ dressings to make it work. And we succeeded”, the PI recalls. “By the way, it was the students who helped to launch the plant in the first days of the war, and they are still helping us out today. A significant share of manufacture is on their shoulders. We are also grateful to the university mechanics because almost all the equipment of the ‘Aquior’ plant was designed and manufactured by the employees of the Scientific Research Laboratory-40 under the leadership of Volodymyr Borovets”.
The sterile-coated wound dressing is small, but in the spring of 2022, such dressings helped save lives. As early as March 2022, these dressings were used in hospitals in Lviv and Kyiv, and in the summer – in healthcare facilities in twelve regions of Ukraine, including Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions. Heads of medical services in military units asked to send these supplies to the combat areas.
Two and a half years later, the researchers began to manufacture unique items: hydrogel sheets (40 x 100 cm) for emergency treatment of large burn wounds; masks for treating face burns; hydrogel bandages and napkins.
The researchers have also developed analgesic, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory hydrogel dressings.
Currently the group plans to move on, expand the range, and respond to the requests of military doctors. Military surgeons need the highest quality means for emergency treatment, and as they say, ’preferably for yesterday’. Statistics on combat injuries show that the mortality rate from penetrating abdominal wounds is about 9-12 percent. And, unfortunately, the share of such wounds is growing. According to the PI, during World War I, it was no more than two percent, during World War II – 4-5, during the war in Afghanistan – 11, during the war between Bosnia and Herzegovina – 12-14. Injuries are caused by firearms (10.5%), shell fragments (14%) and mines (7.5%). It takes time to transport a wounded person to a surgical department, and to prolong the time, you need means for emergency treatment.
“In retrospect, most of our work in this area has led us to this development. The issue of creating means for emergency treatment of penetrating abdominal wounds has been raised many times, but only today we are confident that we can solve this problem and create a prototype of the means”, Sc.D. Volodymyr Samaryk highlighted. ”After obtaining the grant, the dream becomes a calendar plan.
The PI explained that emergency treatment involves an injection of a foam hydrogel composition into the abdominal cavity. The composition turns into a sponge-like macroporous hydrogel within 30-60 seconds, blocking the damaged organs. Antibiotics in the hydrogel will disinfect, and hemostatic agents will stop or slow the bleeding. “By the way, the concept of this dressing was suggested by the military surgeon Mykola Oborin who did research in this sphere”, stressed the PI.
“Creating such a means is a complex, research-intensive task at the intersection of several sciences. The solution to this problem can be divided into several stages. The first is the creation of a hydrogel composition that will form a stable foam and be structured into a macroporous hydrogel with the required physical and mechanical properties. Next, it is necessary to determine the qualitative and quantitative composition of antibiotics, haemostatic and possibly anesthetic drugs in the composition. Then it is necessary to study the pharmacokinetic properties of their release. The following step is the creation of a mechanical means for storing and using the composition in the field. And, of course, preclinical and clinical research are required.
In the course of the project, the group will partially use the previous results of their work. But some research will need to be done from scratch. They plan to start by determining which drugs should be added to the hydrogel, how much and in what combination. To solve this and other issues, the researchers plan to involve practitioners, hold consultations, round tables, and discussions. “We will define several complexes of medicines, then combine them with the hydrogel matrix and test their activity”, professor explained. “Doctors realize the importance of this work and are ready to support us”.
With the grant funding, the group plans to purchase equipment, as many problems in this and other research cannot be solved without modern devices. “Thereafter we will be able to significantly increase our publication activity, which will allow us to apply for a NATO grant”, the PI explained with a smile. “Yes, researchers never have enough funding, materials and equipment. We have a lot of ideas, but without funding it is impossible to bring these ideas to life”.