SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will provide the basis for producing a unique cytocompatible, liquid adhesive bandage that will facilitate wound healing. This project is based upon a correlation of surface free energy of hydrated, amphiphilic polymers and their ability to support cell functions, such as growth and proliferation, deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, and patterns of substrate surface coverage and morphology. Current commercially available liquid adhesive bandages for professional applications on humans are used in a variety of wound coverage applications. However, there is no liquid adhesive bandage commercially available for human use that serves as a cell substrate as well as protecting a wound from foreign contaminants. The research will determine the surface free energies of a variety of amphiphilic polymers, ranging from highly hydrophilic to highly hydrophobic, and then correlate the surface free energy data to the cytocompatibility of the respective polymer films. It is anticipated that this approach will result in a selection of polymers in a narrow range of surface free energies that can accelerate tissue regrowth for wound healing. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the creation of a new form of medical treatment for acute wounds (e.g., surgery sites, injuries), for chronic wounds (e.g., ulcers) and for burn wounds utilizing a simple, low cost, intimately conformal, protective polymer coating material that is capable of facilitating tissue regeneration. Such a coating will function as a synthetic skin substitute that will allow wounds to heal rapidly, without external contamination, such as from bacteria and other microorganisms, because of its ability to facilitate cell adhesion and proliferation. Importantly, this polymer coating will self-remove over time as the wound heals, in contrast to typical bandages that can cause new tissue abrasion and rupture when manually removed. This project will demonstrate how enhanced cytocompatibility of liquid adhesive bandages, and synthetic skin substitutes in general, can be obtained in topical wound care, thus leading to a reduction of patient suffering and a reduction in this nation's health care costs. The commercial impact of this product will be game-changing for topical wound treatment in that future materials should facilitate healthy tissue regrowth

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project pertains to the development of a spray-on polymer coating using a novel amphiphilic polymer in a non-stinging, volatile hydrophobic solvent for treatment of first and second degree burn wounds with reduction of scar formation, wherein a transparent, flexible substrate for human cell attachment, viability and proliferation is formed without any added exogenous biological components. No methods currently exist for treating burns that concurrently reduce pain upon treatment, are intimately conformal to regular and irregular (face, fingers) wound surfaces, provide a cell substrate for wound closure and healing, and do not require dressing removal, such as with the proposed spray-on polymer coating. This investigation will involve cytocompatibility and wound healing studies of these novel polymers, in conjunction with a determination of the polymers? physical and mechanical properties needed for spray-on characteristics. The success of this investigation will demonstrate that a sophisticated, yet inexpensive, easily applied, conformal polymer coating can be used for burn treatment with reduction of scarring. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project pertains to the commercialization of a novel spray-on transparent polymer coating, delivered from a non-stinging, volatile hydrophobic solvent, to treat first and second degree burn injuries, with reduction of scar formation. Burn injuries constitute one of the most expensive aspects of health care. There are more than 40 million scar patients worldwide per year, at a treatment cost of $12 billion. Currently, no commercial burn care product or methodology provides for improved burn healing with reduced pain and reduced scar formation utilizing a patient and caregiver-friendly technique such as given by this investigation. Despite substantial research in tissue engineering for the preparation of scaffolds for topical wound care, the few commercialized products are costly in preparation, storage and use, and are subject to degradation and loss of activity. With the success of this project, a new technology will be developed that significantly improves burn treatment, is based upon readily synthesized, stable polymers in a commercially-available solvent, that provides a transparent, water-insoluble, oxygen- and water-vapor permeable coating suitable for use over large area burn wounds without forming a patch-work design, and which self-removes as the wound heals.