Sublimation in medicine is recognized as a life-saving technology
[ad_1]
A technology called sublimation quickly burst into our lives several years ago. Freeze-drying (or lyophilization) is widely used in the food industry: it helps preserve crops and make food supplies for a long time. Dry products obtained using this technology are used in confectionery art.
They are also included in the diet of survivalists, astronauts and polar explorers, which allows them to obtain the necessary nutritional supplements in extreme conditions. However, few people know that sublimation has also found application in the medical field. “MK” learned about how dried medicines are made, blood is sublimated, and how sublimation is used in transplant surgery.
What it is
The process of sublimation (lyophilization) is a procedure for completely removing moisture. It is designed to preserve food and significantly reduce their weight. The advantage of this method is that it allows water to evaporate from frozen food without it becoming liquid. One of the stages of the technology is the freezing process followed by rapid evaporation of water in a vacuum. The technology was discovered in 1921 by USSR scientist Lappa-Starzhenetsky.
The essence of the sublimation system is that the liquid in the products passes from a solid state to a gaseous state. Because this occurs at low temperatures, product decomposition processes are stopped and molecular bonds do not break down. This method was first used during World War II to create dry antibiotics and blood substitutes.
Then they began to produce freeze-dried food products, which were also used in the army, and later in the process of space exploration. Today, freeze-dried food can easily be bought in a store, it is in great demand among travelers: just add liquid and dinner is ready.
For pharmaceutical products, two different freezing methods are used: contact freezing with a refrigerated surface and dynamic freezing/rotation freezing in a cooling bath. “Water evaporation during freeze drying from frozen raw materials occurs without thawing due to the effect of low pressure. Thus, the vacuum allows you to remove water and other liquids from the processed raw materials, without losing the properties and original structure,” notes Alexey Butrimov, a specialist in the field of sublimation technologies.
Sublimation and pharmacology
Sublimation technology is widely used in pharmacology due to its ability to best preserve the properties of medications. The lyophilization method is used for hormone therapy drugs, antibiotics, vitamins, enzyme preparations, as well as for blood products, serum and vaccines. Powders obtained by this method are very hygroscopic and dissolve quickly.
It is important to note that lyophilized drugs retain their biological activity for a long time with minimal loss of living microbial cells. The low-temperature conditions of the freeze-drying process not only preserve the original properties of the product (biologically active substances, smell, taste, color), but also improve them due to the concentration of the most valuable components.
Lyophilization is also used in the manufacture of medical probiotic preparations. The drying process in this case ensures the stabilization of the bacterial culture, which is important for ensuring the viability of the cells in the preparation. The shelf life of the drug will depend on the latter.
Scientists from Tomsk studied the effect of freeze-drying conditions on probiotic preparations. The results of the study showed that the number of living microbial cells in the preparations remained virtually unchanged after the lyophilization process. This was facilitated by the high speed of freezing the product, due to which the loss of microbial cells was minimal. Thus, freeze drying is a reliable way to preserve biomaterials.
In lyophilized cultures, a significant part of the bacteria remains in a viable state for many years without losing their biological properties. “Therefore, today there is no difference whether you use freeze-dried probiotics or live ones,” says gastroenterologist Mikhail Bueverov.
Reconstructive medicine
Lyophilization has successfully found its application in the field of reconstructive medicine, ensuring the restoration of a lost or deformed part of the human body. In this area of medicine, grafts and allografts (these are grafts that were taken from a corpse) are sublimated. They not only anatomically restore tissues and organs, but also return them to their former functional properties.
Scientists who studied freeze-dried fabrics came to the conclusion that in the process of lyophilization, materials become resistant to environmental factors and the ability to maintain a complex of structural and biochemical qualities. In addition, lyophilized grafts have sufficient strength and elasticity. Thus, they can create the necessary tension at the ends of the damaged tendon, which promotes more complete regeneration.
At the same time, freeze-dried transplants can return damaged tissues and organs to their previous functional properties. For example, lyophilized sponge allografts placed in the space of the eye for five years do not dissolve or scar, but retain their original structure in the recipient’s tissues, performing a drainage function, sprouting blood vessels, creating additional nutrition for the membranes of the eye.
Blood sublimation
Last year, our scientists developed a technology for obtaining dry blood plasma for use in field conditions, which opened a new page in the history of military field surgery. Using sublimation, lyophilized plasma is obtained, which can be carried with you in a special bag in an individual first aid kit, and, if necessary, diluted in a special solution. In conditions where there is no possibility of blood transfusion in the traditional way, this can provide invaluable assistance.
In emergency situations, when access to fresh blood or movement of the wounded is limited, dried plasma can be a life-saving alternative for the sick and injured.
But for now these are just prospects. The technology has yet to prove its effectiveness in research.
Newspaper headline:
Dry your loins
[ad_2]
Source link
