Design of Medical Devices Using Spongy Sheet Composed of Hyaluronic Acid and Collagen

This research aims to obtain useful information for development of medical devices such as wound dressing and tissue anti-adhesive product, using a spongy sheet composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) and collagen (Col). The spongy sheets were manufactured by freeze vacuum drying of HA and Col aqueous solution, followed by UV irradiation to introduce intermolecular crosslinks between Col molecules. These spongy sheets are referred to as Sponge-A (ratio of HA/Col = 5/1) and Sponge-B (ratio of HA/Col = 5/5). Both surfaces of Sponge-A and Sponge-B treated with UV irradiation for 15 minutes are referred to as Sponge-A-15 and Sponge-B-15, respectively. The weight change of spongy sheet was determined by immersing a peace of spongy sheet in water at 37°C. The weight of sponge-A-15 collected 1/2, 1, 3, 7 days after immersion in water was 63.5%, 62.1%, 56.6%, 54.4% of the original weight, respectively. The weight of Sponge-B-15 was 78.3%, 76.7%, 79.1%, 71.9% of the original weight, respectively. The weight change of spongy sheet was determined by immersing a peace of spongy sheet in water containing collagenase at 37°C. The weight of Sponge-A-15 collected 6, 8, 10, 12 hours after immersion in water containing collagenase (0.0005 w/v%) was 65.7%, 59.8%, 57.9%, 55.2% of the original weight, respectively. The weight of Sponge-B-15 was 63.5%, 52.1%, 42.0%, 43.2% of the original weight, respectively. This spongy sheet is considered to have the unique structure, where HA molecules are entrapped in an intermolecular cross-linked network structure of Col molecules. When immersed in water containing collagenase, the weight loss of spongy sheet is accelerated by easy extraction of HA molecules from the enzymatic degraded Col network structure. The performance of wound dressing and tissue anti-adhesive product is considered to depend on appropriate ratio of HA and Col, and also on appropriate rate of intermolecular crosslinks between Col molecules. These findings obtained in this study provide useful information for product development such as wound dressing and tissue anti-adhesive product.