The team of the Organic Chemistry Department at the National University “Lviv Polytechnics” has been running their research of water-soluble polymers, purpose-built polymers, and hydrogel polymers for the past 20 years.

The development of hydrogel dressings started in 2018. During 2021, the research group was designing a pilot installation to produce the pilot-scale batches of the hydrogel dressings “Aquior.” It was necessary to establish the parameters of the technological process for their production, for marketing research, and for clinical trials.

The reality of the full-scale invasion and the growing demand for such products challenged the team to shift the production from experimental to industrial format, and to scale the capacity.

The production process for hydrogel dressings involves several stages and requires quality control for all steps. Presently, one batch can take up to one week to produce. First, hydrogel sheets are dehydrated, which takes up to three days. Then, they are cut out according to the required dimensions, and sent for sterilization and packaging. It’s important to mention that all stages take place in the premises of the National University “Lviv Polytechnics” and are performed by a group of scientists and students from the Department of Organic Chemistry.

Over the time the team of scientists worked, about 100,000 hydrogel dressings were delivered to various regions of Ukraine (20 regions, at least 32 cities). They deliver to military units (paramedics in the front) and to hospitals, to frontline hospitals and burn centers where they treat the wounded patients.

At the frontline, these means are used for emergency care and treatment of burn wounds, also for the treatment of a specific disease, known as “trench foot.”

The team communicates with volunteers and paramedics to keep monitoring the needs reported by the military to be able to rapidly respond and provide hydrogel dressings with the required properties.

The team keeps searching for investors. There is also a significant cooperation effort between two universities. See more in the UCU story:

Cooperation of ЗMIN with the Department of Organic Chemistry of the National University “Lviv Polytechnics” runs as a sustainable partnership, with regular monthly scholarships.

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