Menstruation could be messy and uncomfortable, usually resulting from leaky pads, tampons and cups. A brand new alginate-based powder could clear up that drawback. The fabric, which solidifies menstrual blood by turning it right into a gel combination, might scale back leakage in interval merchandise with out compromising capability, researchers report July 10 in Matter.
“Our paper is a proof of idea,” says Rogério Aparecido Bataglioli, a chemical engineer at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Earlier than getting used commercially, he says, the supplies would should be assessed for security and scalability.
Most menstrual pads use cellulose-based supplies to soak up interval blood. Although they’re efficient, many individuals who menstruate nonetheless wrestle with leakage and mess.
To unravel this drawback, the crew turned to alginate, a naturally occurring substance derived from algae and seaweed. After the researchers screened a big pool of potential polysaccharides — lengthy chains of carbohydrate molecules — that would have blood-absorbing properties, alginate excelled at absorbing and gelling blood. It additionally has already been permitted by the Meals and Drug Administration to be used in prescription drugs, meals and medical supplies.
To additional enhance the alginate’s absorption, the researchers added glycerol. They then examined the absorbency of those alginate-glycerol powders in opposition to business absorbents by sandwiching every between sheets of gauze. The crew dripped modified pig blood by means of a mannequin vagina to imitate menstruation earlier than performing a squeeze take a look at on the blood-soaked supplies. Although each have been good at absorbing the blood, when the simulated interval pads with business absorbent have been compressed, it was “like squeezing a sponge,” says Bryan Hsu, a microbiologist at Virginia Tech. With the alginate materials, which gelled the blood, the pads leaked much less beneath stress.
Pad checks
To evaluate the leakage of alginate-based menstrual pads, researchers wrapped the brand new materials in gauze and dripped pig blood on it. They then frivolously centrifuged the pads on high of effectively plates to imitate compression and gather the leakage. They did the identical factor for 3 different situations: no added materials, business pad fillers and polyacrylate, the trade gold-standard superabsorbent polymer. Click on by means of the slideshow beneath to see how every fared.
The crew started with a management, dripping pig blood by means of gauze pads with no added materials. The blood seeped all through the gauze (left). When centrifuged over the effectively plate (proper), plenty of blood leaked out. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 They then moved on to business pad fillers, sometimes cellulose-based, and equally collected the post-centrifuge leakage in a effectively plate. The business fillers leaked much less than simply gauze, however nonetheless leaked fairly a bit. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 Researchers additionally examined polyacrylate, a superabsorbent polymer. When squeezed over the effectively plate, it leaked lower than both the gauze or the business filler. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024 Lastly, they carried out the identical checks with their very own alginate-glycerol powder method. Visually, the quantity of squeezed-out blood collected within the effectively plate seems just like what come out of the polyacrylate. However measuring the quantity of that blood revealed that the alginate-glycerol powder carried out the very best within the leak take a look at out of all 4 supplies. R.A. Bataglioli et al/Matter 2024
The crew additionally examined their new materials in menstrual cups. They packed the alginate-glycerol powder into a protracted and slender cotton sheath that was then coiled round within the cup. After the blood entered the menstrual cup and encountered the alginate, it gelled. Then, the blood may very well be eliminated together with the cotton tube — and a brand new one may very well be reinserted — with minimal liquid mess. In solidifying the menstrual blood right into a gel, Hsu says, the aim is to make menstrual cup elimination and cleansing simpler and tidier.
One limitation of the research, notes ob–gyn Abigail Liberty, is that the blood was defibrinated pig blood, which doesn’t comprise fibrin, a protein concerned in clotting. Although she applauds the crew for utilizing blood as an alternative of one other mannequin fluid, menstrual blood is “completely different than blood that’s simply floating across the physique,” says Liberty, of Oregon Well being & Science College in Portland (SN: 4/16/24). “It’s secreted differently. It’s grown, it’s launched differently.”
On account of a scarcity of analysis on menstrual care and interval merchandise, Bataglioli and colleagues didn’t have a base of experimental methods to attract from and adapt. As an alternative, they designed lots of their strategies from scratch. “That’s a message to the scientific group — there’s nothing on the market,” says Zeinab Hosseinidoust, a biomedical engineer at McMaster College in Hamilton, Canada. “Much more essential than the precise analysis that was finished is the message that this work sends.”
