USE OF BACTERIAL CELLULOSE AND NANOSILVER IN DRESSING MATERIALS

Abstract

This work examines modern approaches to creating dressing materials for treating acute and chronic wounds using bacterial cellulose. It analyzes skin structure, main stages of wound healing, and factors that may slow or complicate regeneration. It demonstrates that traditional dressings do not always provide optimal conditions for tissue restoration, whereas hydrogel systems maintain a moist environment, ensure gas exchange, and create favorable conditions for cell proliferation. Due to their high biocompatibility, ability to absorb exudate, and easy removal without traumatizing newly formed tissue, bacterial cellulose hydrogels hold a prominent position among modern wound dressings. The work reviews the use of natural and synthetic polymers for hydrogel materials, their advantages, and limitations. Particular attention is paid to bacterial cellulose (BC), as a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. It highlights its unique properties, including high purity, nanofibrillar structure, biocompatibility, ability to retain significant water amounts, and creation of optimal wound healing conditions. The incorporation of bacterial cellulose has been shown to yield composite hydrogels characterized by superior mechanical performance, structural stability, and controlled release of bioactive substances. It is noted that the lack of intrinsic antimicrobial activity in bacterial cellulose necessitates its modification. Introducing silver nanoparticles, characterized by broad-spectrum antimicrobial action and actively used in biomedical materials, is considered a promising approach. Composite hydrogels based on bacterial cellulose and silver nanoparticles combine high biocompatibility, tissue regeneration capacity, and pronounced antimicrobial activity, making them promising for modern wound dressings.