SBIR Phase I: New Chitin/Alginate Biocomposites by Homogeneous Processing in Ionic Liquids: Disruptive Technology for Wound Care Application

该小企业技术转让（SBIR）第一阶段项目将利用正在申请专利的技术，允许直接溶解和重组天然生物聚合物，以制备用于伤口护理产品的嵌入式添加剂的甲壳素/藻酸盐复合纤维。 该技术允许将海藻酸盐和甲壳素（两者都已知加速伤口愈合，刺激细胞恢复，并且是抗菌的）与治疗添加剂混合和纺丝以生产复合纤维。 这种独特的技术在纺丝过程中将添加剂嵌入到纤维中，导致添加剂在纤维吸收水并变得不那么刚性时缓慢释放到伤口中，从而允许在延长的时间段内将生理相关剂量的治疗剂递送到伤口。 这些纤维将a）具有增加伤口愈合和细胞恢复的生物聚合物的固有性质，B）局部递送有益的添加剂，和c）在延长的时间段内缓慢释放添加剂。 在第一阶段，目标是了解甲壳素/海藻酸盐/添加剂的相对组成与纺丝条件对机械和流变性能的关系（强度、弹性、粘度）、吸水性、以及糖尿病皮肤溃疡市场所需的模拟条件下的添加剂释放率。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是缩短持续时间的潜力（通过~ 40%）和成本（20-50%）的伤口护理治疗，从而不仅允许添加剂的延长释放，而且与目前的喷涂纤维相比，敷料更换频率更低，愈合时间缩短。 到2013年，目标皮肤溃疡治疗市场预计将产生74亿美元的收入，这是由于糖尿病人口增加造成的。 湿敷料处理是这一市场的一个子集，其中生产的纤维最适用，2008年实现了3.154亿美元的收入，预计到2013年将增长到4.248亿美元。 迫切需要可以提高愈合率的产品和包含创新纤维的新型敷料，所述创新纤维可以以更低的频率施用，持续更长时间，并且含有促进愈合的添加剂，从而降低患者护理成本。 这些用于糖尿病溃疡市场的特种纤维的成功开发将为其他伤口护理和健康市场的复合纤维的定制生产提供科学见解。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR) Phase I project will utilize patent pending technology that allows direct dissolution and reconstitution of natural biopolymers to prepare chitin/alginate composite fibers with embedded additives for use in wound care products. The technology allows for solution blending and spinning of alginate and chitin (both known to speed wound healing, stimulate cell recovery, and be antibacterial) with therapeutic additives to produce composite fibers. This unique technology embeds the additives into the fibers during spinning, leading to slow release of the additives into the wound as the fiber absorbs water and becomes less rigid, and thus allowing the delivery of physiologically relevant doses of a therapeutic agent to the wound over an extended period of time. These fibers will a) possess the inherent properties of the biopolymers that increase wound healing and cell recovery, b) localize delivery of beneficial additives, and c) slowly release the additives over an extended period of time. In Phase I, the goals are to develop an understanding of the relationship between the relative chitin/alginate/additive composition and spinning conditions on mechanical and rheological properties (strength, elasticity, viscosity), water absorption, and additive release rates under simulated conditions as needed for the diabetic skin ulcer markets.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the potential to reduce the duration (by ~40%) and cost (by 20-50%) of wound care treatment by developing a unique composite fiber with additives both on the surface and evenly distributed within the fiber, thereby allowing not only for extended release of the additives, but also less frequent dressing changes and decreased healing time compared to the current spray-coated fibers. The targeted skin ulcer treatment market is predicted to generate revenue of $7.4 billion by 2013, an increase caused by the rising diabetic population. A subset of this market where produced fibers are most applicable, the moist dressing treatment, achieved revenue of $315.4 million in 2008 and is expected to grow to $424.8 million by 2013. There is an urgent need for products that can improve healing rates and novel dressings incorporating innovative fibers that can be applied less frequency, last longer, and contain additives to promote healing, thus reducing patient care cost. The successful development of these specialty fibers for the diabetic ulcer market will provide scientific insight allowing for the customized production of composite fibers for other wound care and health markets.