UNAIR NEWS – Osteoarthritis is a frequent case with high prevalence in the world. Osteoarthritis is a pathological degeneration of articular cartilage underlying inflammation on the synovial membrane, causing pain, limited joint motion, deformity and dysfunction. Damage to this cartilage is usually caused by injuries during exercise, trauma during accidents, or aging.
A team of Biomedical Engineering students of Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) Universitas Airlangga has managed to create material which helps to quickly resolve inflammation of the cartilage due to degeneration of cartilage tissue called Osteoarthritis.
The success of finding alternative to handle osteoarthritis cases were then conveyed into the proposal of Exacta Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-PE) entitled “Innovation of Injectable Hydrogel -Based on Chitosan-Hyaluronic Acid (HA) as Regeneration of Cartilage in the case of Osteoarthritis (OA).”
The leader of the team, Ainia Rahmah Aishah said that under the guidance of their lecturer, Dr. Prihartini Widiyanti, drg., M.Kes, her PKM proposal has qualified for research funding from Kemenristekdikti on 2016-2017 PKM program.
Described by Ainia Rahmah, materials commonly used in the replacement of cartilage such as metal causes a lot of reactions, such as infection or an attack from the body’s immune responses (Host) , moreover, a good metal material is very expensive.
From this problem, Ainia Rahmah Aisyah, Wilda Khilida Annaqiyah, Amalia Nur Hayati, Novita Putri Rahayu, dan Ahda Nur Laila Nabilah were inspired to look for the right composition of material effective to cure Osteoarthritis.
“All this time, the existing treatment still requires a long process through surgery which takes hours. We proposed treatment in the form of hydrogel injection directly to where the pain, so the condition can be directly resolved, “said Ainia.
Ainia also explained that the hydrogel is one option to resolve an Osteoarthritis, because it is compatible with the cells and the surrounding tissues, it is considered as a material suitable for the artificial extracellular matrix (ECM)for tissue engineering.
“Our hope in the future, this research can be further improved and developed so that it can actually be implemented in the treatment of Osteoarthritis patients,” said Ainia Rahmah Aisyah added. (*)
Editor: Bambang Bes
