. . . "Water-swellable materials of the invention include polyvinyl alcohol and derivatives thereof, agarose, polyvinyl pyrrolidone and derivatives thereof, proteins such as gelatin, agar-agar, albumin and collagen, hydroxyproline polymers or oligomers, hydrophilic polyacrylate derivatives, polyethylene oxide and derivatives thereof, carboxyalkylcellulose and derivatives thereof, hydroxylated cellulose d" .