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Submitted to:
Kayode Adekunle
S US TAI NA BL E M AT ERIA LS
Chitosan, after cellulose, is the most abundant natural amino polysaccharide and is annually
produced roughly around as much as cellulose. It is produced by deacetylation of chitin which is
obtained from marine crustaceans. Chitosan, unlike chitin is soluble in aqueous acidic medium
and is used in many applications such as food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical. In this
paper the use of chitosan in bio-textiles for use in medical is discussed.
Introduction:
Chitin, the main source of chitosan occurs in nature as ordered crystalline micro fibrils
forming structural components in the exoskeleton of arthropods or in the cell walls of fungi and
yeast. It is produced by a number of other living organisms in the lower plant and animal
kingdoms, serving in many functions where reinforcement and strength are required.
Despite its widespread occurrence, the main commercial sources of chitin have been crab
and shrimp shells up to now. Industrially, chitin is extracted from crustaceans by acid treatment
to dissolve calcium carbonate and then treated with alkali to solubilise proteins. The extracted
chitin is again treated for decolourization purpose to get a colourless product. It is then graded in
terms of purity and colour because the residual protein and pigment can cause problems for
further use, especially for biomedical purpose. Finally chitin is partially deacetylated under
alkaline conditions to get chitosan.
STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
Hi absorbency. Mass availability; mass production
Ease of application and removal. Under extensive research for various
Bacterial barrier. medical applications.
Comfort. Other technical applications areas
Haemostatic.
pH sensitive.
Sustainable
WEAKNESSES THREATS
Wet spun. Validation process gratification
Cost (as much as 7.5$/10g). Under investigation whether if it is
pH sensitive. suitable for people allergic to shellfish
Underutilized. or not?!
Producing facilities
Government (legislations)
In burn patients, where standard of care involves application silver sulfadiazine cream,
silver toxicity is a major concern because of reduced skin barrier. Membranes, including
chitosan, reduce this toxicity by entrapment of silver ions in the matrix. Chitosan is studied for
stimulating the growth of fibroblast in the wound and promote the tissue growth.
Chitosan possesses all the properties that are necessary for manufacturing an ideal contact
lens. It includes Optical clarity, mechanical stability, sufficient optical correction, gas
permeability (specifically towards oxygen), wet ability, and immunological compatibility.
Contact lenses made from chitosan are clear, tough and posses other physical characteristics for
example modulus, tensile & tear strength, elongation, water content and oxygen permeability.
Additionally the anti-microbial and wound healing quality of chitosan in conjunction with good
film forming ability make it suitable for development of ocular (related to eye) bandage lenses.
Polymeric nano-fibers that mimic the structure and function of the natural extracellular
matrix (ECM) are of great interest in tissue engineering as scaffolding materials to restore,
maintain or improve the function of human tissues. The natural ECMs in the body are mainly
composed of two classes of extracellular macromolecules: proteo-glycans and fibrous proteins
with fiber diameters ranging from 50 to 150 nm, depending on tissue type. Studies show that the
material size feature could substantially influence the morphology and function of cells grown on
the ECM. The cells attachment and proliferation were found to be good on micro and nano-
structured materials.
Conclusion:
Chitosan has a wide range of applications in various fields of science. They may be
employed for example to solve numerous problems in environmental and biomedical
engineering. Chitosan can be easily molded to various forms and its derivatives are digested in
vivo, thus it appears that this material can be a most interesting candidate for use in biomedical
applications. Another advantage of chitosan over other polysaccharides is that its chemical
structure allows specific modifications without too many difficulties, i.e. specific groups can be
introduced to design polymers for selected applications.
Chitosan is a natural material with virtually no environmental impact except that a lot of
chemicals are used to extract from the source, yet it should be remembered that it is obtained by
making use of the waste material rejected from fisheries which a renewable resource if used
responsibly.
References:
Majeti N.V. Ravi Kumar, 2000, a review of chitin and chitosan applications.
Hitoshi Sashiwa*, Sei-ichi Aiba, 2004, chemically modified chitin and chitosan as biomaterials.
Bhattarai N, Edmondson D, Veiseh O, Matsen FA, Zhang M., 2005, Electro-spun chitosan-based
Nano-fibers and their cellular compatibility.
http://www.drugs.com/npp/chitosan.html, Feb’10.