1 of 2 | University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering doctoral candidate Changxu Sun holds up a small malva nut and a submerged one to demonstrate how much it swells in water. Sun is harnessing this “natural hydrogel” to create new medical devices. Photo by Chuanwang Yang/University of Chicago
Feb. 17 (UPI) — The humble malva nut, which for centuries has been used to make herbal tea in Southeast Asian countries, could have a much more important future as a sustainable source for medical applications, U.S. researchers say. The nut, known as Pangdahai or PDH, has a unique ability to expand tremendously when submerged in water. That property sparked an idea to tap it for use as a low-cost, natural and sustainable resource for medical devices that use hydrogels for such things as wound care, regenerative medicine and adhesives for skin-attached sensors and devices, according to scientists at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Advertisement
In a study published Monday in the scientific journal Matter, a university Chemistry Department team led by doctoral candidate Changxu Sun and Professor Bozhi Tian demonstrated that the gooey residue left over from soaking PDH to make an herbal tea for soothing sore throats possesses previously unrealized abilities when processed into an all-natural hydrogel.
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The substance can also outperform commercially available gels in transmitting accurate signals while monitoring heartbeats for electrocardiograms via skin-attached patches, they determined.
The findings could have broad implications in the search for sustainable alternatives in the design of many kinds of medical devices that use sticky hydrogels — especially in the lower-income Southeast Asian countries where malva nut trees are common and locally produced medical resources are rare, Sun told UPI.
Malva nut residue could help heal wounds, improve medical devices, study shows
