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Human hair keratin biomaterials have a wide range of application prospects in the medical field. Human hair keratin biomaterials can be used for tissue repair. Due to its good biocompatibility and biodegradability, human hair keratin biomaterials can be used as scaffolds for tissue repair, such as the repair and regeneration of blood vessels, nerves, cartilage, ligaments and other tissues.

Studies have shown that human hair keratin scaffolds can promote the generation of new tissues and accelerate the repair of damaged tissues after implantation in vivo, which has a good clinical application prospect.

The extraction of human hair keratin is a complex process involving multiple steps, and cryo-grinding technology plays a key role in keratin extraction. The main purpose of cryo-grinding is to make the hard hair material brittle through low-temperature processing, which facilitates mechanical crushing, thereby improving the efficiency and quality of keratin extraction. The following is a detailed hair keratin extraction process, focusing on the steps and functions of cryogrinding:

Experimental equipment: Welso cryo grinder

Preparation of hair samples:

Initial treatment of the hair sample is required before freezing grinding begins.

Degreasing & Softening: Weighing the hair for degreasing and softening.

Washing and drying: Wash and dry the decolorized hair.

Cutting hair: Use scissors or other tools to cut long hair into small pieces (usually 1-2 cm long) so that it can be handled more efficiently during the grinding process.

Cryogrind Procedure:

1. Prepare a set of 50ml titanium alloy grinding tubes.

2. Take treated sample and put it into the tube, and close the lid.

3. The cryo grinder needs to be pre-cooled to -50 °C  in advance, and then pre-cool hair in titanium alloy tank by liquid nitrogen in the for about 10min, and fix tank into the grinder and start grinding for 60 seconds.

4. Complete the follow-up analysis of the sample.

Experiment Performance:

Purpose of cryo grinding:

Easy mechanical grinding: The core step of cryo-grinding is to make the hair brittle through low-temperature treatment. Because the structure of hair keratin is hard and tough, it is difficult to effectively mechanically crush at room temperature, so the hair needs to be cooled to extremely low temperatures.

Prevents keratin denaturation: An important advantage of cryo-grinding is the ability to avoid keratin denaturation caused by high temperatures. In mechanical grinding at room temperature, friction may generate excessive heat, resulting in partial inactivation or denaturation of proteins, which can affect extraction efficiency and protein functionality. Cryo-grinding is carried out at low temperatures, which effectively avoids this problem and ensures the activity of the extracted keratin.

Experimental Notes:

Before and after the experiment, the stainless steel beads can be cleaned and disinfected with deionized water/alcohol or in an ultrasonic cleaner, and dried for later use.

During the experiment, the volume of the sample should not exceed one-third of the grinding tube, leaving enough space for the sphere to move adequately.

The use of the Welso cryo grinder has the advantages of being more efficient, labor-saving and safer than manual single-pass grinding. The grinding speed of the instrument is significantly improved, the discharge particles are fine and uniform, and the effect can reach the micron level, ensuring higher experimental accuracy. At the same time, there is no cross-contamination during the frozen grinding process, and the extracted ingredients are superior to manual homogenization in terms of quantity and quality. In addition, the automatic operation makes the experimental process more convenient and worry-free, and greatly improves the work efficiency.