Abstract:
Cartilage injuries such as osteochondritis and osteoarthritis are common in Pakistan.
Polymeric hydrogels are widely used in such medical conditions for the cartilage
regeneration. This research aims at the synthesis of hydrogels with high tensile strength by
incorporating natural polymers such as chitosan and poly vinyl alcohol.
In this project synthetic hydrogels were prepared by using natural biopolymers. Initially
Hydrogels were prepared using different concentration of chitosan and poly vinyl alcohol.
Once these Hydrogels were prepared they undergoes different structural and biological
testing techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the presence
of functional groups chitosan and poly vinyl alcohol. Then drug release studies were
carried out in order to observe the release of drug from the hydrogel. Then anti-bacterial
studies were performed against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus.
Cytotoxicity analysis was performed in order to claim that these hydrogels had no toxic
effect on the cells. All these experiments confirmed that the said hydrogels are safe to use
for the biomedical applications.
