Background: The design and fabrication of hemocompatible and low-toxicity formulations remains a challenging task. Hydrogels are of considerable importance for biomedical applications since they are highly compatible with living tissue, both in vivo and in vitro.
Objective: The present study aimed to develop and evaluate the characterizations and in vitro hemocompatibility of a hydrogel using polyvinyl alcohol and gelatin with different concentrations.
Methods: The gelling process was realized by cross-linking the polyvinyl alcohol and gelatin. The morphological and structural examinations of the synthetic hydrogels were done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The swelling behavior of the prepared hydrogels in water was evaluated. Prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and thrombin time were measured, and a hemolysis test was done to evaluate the hemocompatibility of prepared hydrogels.
Results: The increase of the gelatin concentration in polyvinyl gelatin hydrogel increases the porosity and enhances the absorptivity of the prepared hydrogel. The measured hematological parameters indicated enhancement of hemocompatibility as the gelatin concentration was increased in the prepared hydrogel.
Conclusions: The results obtained from this study confirm that gelatin was able to improve the properties of the polyvinyl alcohol-gelatin hydrogel and enhance the hemocompatibility. Thus, the prepared hydrogel could be used in a variety of biomedical applications.
Keywords: Polyvinyl alcohol; gelatin; hemocompatibility.