Marine Fiber: Better Medical Dressing

With the rise of the marine economy as a national development strategy, kelp, shrimp shells and crab shells, the most common marine resources in life, will be developed and applied in a variety of ways that break through the traditional thinking of people, and will eventually become an important driving force for the sustainable development of society.

The seaweed fiber developed by Qiingdao University has entered the industrialization stage. The Shandong Huaxing Group has the independent intellectual property rights of chitosan fiber technology and related industry chain construction is improving.

Marine fiber has attracted the attention of all fields due to its excellent antibacterial, flame retardant and radiation protection properties. It is the first to bear the brunt of the medical and health industry with special requirements for biocompatibility and antibacterial properties.

However, most fiber enterprises do not understand this field. It is very difficult for them to communicate with each other because they are separated by several links in the industrial chain.

At the fifth biological industry conference held recently, the reporter met Wang Xiaodong, deputy general manager of Guangdong Lily Medical Technology Co., Ltd.. He studied marine fibers in medical dressings.

The reporter consulted Wang Xiaodong on relevant issues, hoping to take this opportunity to provide clues for the development of marine fiber products enterprises.

Reporter: what are the unique advantages of marine fibers used in medical dressing? What are the main fiber varieties currently available?

Wang Xiaodong: at present, calcium alginate fiber, which is made from kelp, and chitosan fiber, which is made from shrimp shell and crab shell, is the main material of biomedical dressing.

From the perspective of resources, 71% of the earth's surface is marine, with abundant resources and renewable resources. The technology of artificial breeding is mature, and the cost of maintenance and exploitation is relatively low. As an important species of biomass fiber, marine fiber products have the characteristics of degradation and conform to the trend of low carbon and environmental protection.

More importantly, marine fibers are highly hygroscopic and moisturizing. They can form benign microclimate between wounds and dressings. They have good biocompatibility and bacteriostatic action, can prevent wound infection, stop bleeding and relieve pain, promote wound healing and absorb wound exudates, and do not dehydrate and contract. Dressing is easy to remove, some can be washed with saline, and some can be removed without pain.

Unique excellent properties make marine fibers an inevitable choice for medical dressings.

Reporter: how specific are these fibers applied to?

Wang Xiaodong: in clinical applications, marine fibers are mainly used for ulcerative wounds, and also for dental surgery, nasal surgery, burns, etc.

Sodium alginate was prepared from kelp, and calcium alginate fiber was prepared by stirring and wet spinning. Then the calcium alginate fiber dressing was obtained by combing needling and making non-woven fabrics.

These dressings are expensive, and they sell for 40 yuan if they are big.

The world's first calcium alginate dressings were made by Cottel Azee, an old British textile company (Courtaulds).

After nearly 20 years of development, calcium alginate dressings have been developed in countries all over the world. The clinical history of the calcium alginate dressing has been nearly 20 years and has been widely welcomed by medical staff.

Its main producers are in Britain, the United States, France and other countries.

In contrast, the application of chitosan fiber dressings is more complex.

People have been paying attention to chitosan fiber dressing for more than ten years, but at present, there is not a mature product entering the mainstream market of dressing. The key reason is that it is an animal source product. People (regulators) have not fully recognized its safety, effectiveness and stability.

At present, these dressings are basically classified into three types of medical devices.

Of course, the moisture absorption property of the fiber itself also needs improvement.

Reporter: it seems that the application of biomedical dressings is not mature enough. What challenges will their materials and marine fibers face? How do businesses need to respond?

Wang Xiaodong: Although resources are abundant, marine fibers are still facing the challenge of stability and traceability of raw materials.

For example, free moving marine organisms such as shrimps and crabs are difficult to ensure that the origin is fixed, and environmental pollution will also have a direct impact on raw materials.

Therefore, it is necessary to carry out orderly management of raw material production areas, ensure multi-channel raw material supply chain and strictly detect means.

At the same time, planned mining and harvesting, production, processing and management should also conform to the standards of medical production.

At present, the supervision of the medical and health industry is becoming more and more stringent. The product declaration materials require a large number of data to prove its safety and effectiveness. In extreme cases, clinical trials are required.

The approval of the three category of products is more stringent, in some three categories in Europe.

Patent is a challenge that marine fiber manufacturers must face.

In fact, most of the high-tech wound dressing products are protected by patents, which may be infringed if they are not careful.

Products suspected of infringement have no place in the market, and products without patent protection can hardly be recognized by the market alone.

In addition, marine fibers are also faced with increasing costs and increasing competition.

The production of ocean fiber dressings involves chemical, spinning, and

Reporter: in the future, how to develop marine fiber products to meet the demand of medical dressing?

Wang Xiaodong: Marine fiber can be highly hygroscopic and antibacterial.