Recently, the R&D Department, Lviv Polytechnic, has officially opened the pilot line for the production of hydrogel materials for medical purposes. Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, Stepan Kuibida, Director of the Department of Economic Policy of Lviv, Myron Uhryn, Governor of Rotary International District 2232, Khrystyna Boiko, Director of the ZMIN Foundation, Solomiia Hovorukha, Head of the CREDO Foundation, Volodymyr Yarandin, Advisor to the Director of Development and Implementation of New Technologies of ROSHEN Corporation, Yuriy Bobalo, Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ivan Demydov, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research, Roman Nebesnyi, Head of the Research and Development Department, and university scientists, including Olena Lukachuk, researcher of the innovation commercialization group of the Research and Development Department, Volodymyr Samaryk, Head of the scientific group, Serhii Varvarenko, Nataliia Nosova, Volodymyr Borovets, Nataliia Bukartyk, Zoriana Nadashkevych, Dmytro Ostapiv, Yurii Khokha and others, as well as students, involved in the technological process of manufacturing trial batches of hydrogel dressings, took part in the event.
The modern, innovative Pilot Line with appropriate equipment was built on the basis of the Research and Development Center, R&D Lab-1 «Laboratory for Development and Testing of New Technologies» at the expense of Lviv Polytechnic National University, the regional budget, benefactors, patrons, business representatives, in particular Rotary International, ZMIN Foundation, CREDO Foundation and ROSHEN Corporation.
The Rector of the University invited the guests to view the newly created Pilot Line, which became the result of systemic support of the development of medical technologies (MedTech) at Lviv Polytechnic by both the University and the partners. The decision to develop the laboratory to a full-fledged experimental technological line was made in 2021, after which the active process of building and equipping the laboratory began. The process was significantly accelerated with the beginning of the war – it was required by the circumstances. The production of the first experimental batches of hydrogel dressings started in March 2022. And now a full-fledged Pilot Line has been opened at the University which makes it possible to manufacture anti-burn, wound-healing hydrogel dressings of various sizes, and to promptly respond to the needs of practicing doctors from the frontline. At this time, the process of clinical trials and certification of the production of hydrogel medical dressings is being completed, and in the near future we plan to test in this Pilot Line the next development of Polytechnicians: technologies for the production of hemostatic bandages and occlusive dressings – medical supplies, the production of which will save the lives of our soldiers.
Aquior medical hydrogel products (dressings, napkins, bandages, masks, blankets) will be manufactured here using a unique technology. The innovation of these dressings is that they are biodegradable, that is able to decompose independently after use, and are made of natural materials, which helps to avoid any skin rashes.
To develop this technology numerous research laboratories and Departments of three Lviv Polytechnic Institutes were involved in the process, namely the Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies (Department of Organic Chemistry, RL-8, RL-1), where, in fact, the technology was developed; the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Transport (Department of Robotics and Integrated Mechanical Engineering Technologies, RL-40), which designed and manufactured a hydrogel plate (dressing) forming unit, a tunnel IR dryer for partial dehydration of a hydrogel plate and a packaging machine; and the Institute of Telecommunications, Radioelectronics and Electronic Engineering (Department of Semiconductor Electronics, Laboratory of Sensor Electronics), where a system for controlling the humidity and temperature of the hydrogel plate was developed.
For conscientious work, an active civic position and a significant personal contribution to the implementation of military and dual-purpose projects, the university employees, namely Roman Nebesnyi, Head of the Research and Development Department, Olena Lukachuk, researcher at the innovation commercialization group of the Research and Development Department, Professor Volodymyr Samaryk, Head of the research group, Professor Serhii Varvarenko, senior researcher Nataliia Nosova and student Solomiia Kapatsila were awarded with Certificates of Appreciation from Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, and Stepan Kuybida, Director of Department of Economic Policy.
MedTech is one of the priority scientific directions at Lviv Polytechnic, so the creation of the Pilot Line for the production of medical devices is, without a doubt, a contribution to our victory and university science, as well as a successful result of cooperation within the Science – State – Business triangle.
