ENTRAPMENT OF 02 IN A SEMI-SOLID FOR HYPOXIC WOUNDS

DESCRIPTION (Verbatim from the Applicant's Abstract): More than 15 million
patients in the US alone suffer from recalcitrant non-healing wounds with an
estimated expenditure of greater than $10 billion in treatment costs. The
demographic shift in longevity will mean an increase in the population base
that is at risk of suffering from chronic non-healing wounds. There is a great
need for improved methods of treating chronic wounds to promote better wound
healing. Although the relationships contributing to recalcitrant wounds are
complex, it is well recognized that a strong correlation between low oxygen
tension and the chronic non-healing state exists. Clinical interventions
directed towards increasing tissue reperfusion and tissue oxygenation have been
rewarded with significant improvements in the healing of chronic wounds.
However achieving improvements in tissue oxygenation involves costly surgery or
special complex equipment for the delivery of hyperbaric oxygen. The specific
aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of developing a material that
will deliver O2 in a sustained release fashion into the wound environment. This
study aims to evaluate the utilization of chemistry that generates the
formation of oxygen-containing closed cell foams in an occlusive hydrophilic
polyacrylate matrix. The delivery of oxygen from the closed cells should
largely occur through directional diffusion of dissolved oxygen in the fluid
gradient derived from the exudating wound bed. Since oxygen delivery to hypoxic
tissues is dependent upon diffusion through extravascular fluids, such a device
may provide an economical and effective material for management of oxygen
tension of the wound environment to support metabolic processes necessary to
effect wound closure. The successful development of such an oxygen delivery
device should provide for a cost effective solution for providing the benefits
of supplemental oxygen therapy to a wider range of patients.
PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION:
This study will evaluate the feasibility of the formation of an oxygen containing closed cell
foam for use as a primary wound contact matrix intended for the delivery of oxygen to
hypoxic tissues. The near term practical application of this technology is in wound
management devices for increasing local tissue oxygen tension. It is envisioned that the
formation of a material that captures and stores significant amounds of oxygen for delivery
by diffusion would have uses that extend beyond wound care where there is a temporary
or prolonged need to deliver biologically significant amounds of oxygen for medical and
non-medical applications.