Dr. Renāte Teterovska

Gastforscherin (Rīga Stradiņš university, and Baltic Biomaterials Center of Excellence, Latvia)

3D printable hydrogels incorporating plant extracts for wound treatment

Collaborator in Erlangen: Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Plant extracts contain polyphenols that are known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, which open the possibility of their use in medicine, for example in wound healing. However, conventional approaches of plant use for wound treatment are often inconvenient to use and lack standardization. Incorporation of plant extracts in novel engineered biomaterial forms such as hydrogels and organic-inorganic composites can provide better wound care. Key steps of the present research project, a collaboration of the Baltic Biomaterials Center of Excellence (LINK: https://bbcentre.eu/) and the FAU Institute of Biomaterials, include the synthesis and 3D printing of alginate based hydrogels, characterization of polyphenols, antioxidants, antibacterial effects, and physical properties of hydrogels. Additionally, loading plant extract in mesoporus bioactive glass nanoparticles will be also investigated as a possibility to achieve more precise drug release kinetics.