I-Corps: Reducing medical adhesive-related skin injuries while using high-adhesion tape

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种高粘性医用胶带，可以在几秒钟内去除而不会伤害皮肤。 这项技术可能对儿童和老年人特别有益，因为他们的皮肤更薄，更脆弱。医用胶带用于将基本设备长时间固定在皮肤上。不幸的是，由于没有安全移除的手段，这些强力胶带从皮肤上移除是痛苦的，通常导致医疗粘合剂相关的皮肤损伤（MARSI）。医用胶带，提供高粘附力，同时提供安全删除的手段，可能会获得立即牵引儿童医院。所提出的高粘附性医用胶带被设计成在用热包加热时从皮肤上释放。这项技术可能会导致一种新型医用胶带的商业化，这种胶带将影响全世界的患者和护理人员，从而减少患者感受到的疼痛以及患者和护理人员经历的焦虑。此外，在医疗保健之外，还有其他潜在的商业应用也受益于热响应粘合剂，从而形成广阔的全球市场。I-Corps的这个项目是基于开发一种温度响应粘合剂，该粘合剂可用于制造高粘性胶带和标签。该计划是配制各种温度敏感聚合物（TSP），并将其纳入压敏粘合剂（PSA）中，因此当混合物达到43°C时，胶带失去大部分粘合力。基于所提出的PSA的组成，某些TSP特性使得这些聚合物与PSA相容。已经测试了一种TSP，目的是测试其他TSP，以了解这些不同的TSP如何与PSA系统相互作用，以及剥离力降低的机制。一种TSP配方的初始数据显示，使用批准用于人体的热包加热后，剥离力降低75%。由于这些添加剂有望创造出新型的皮肤安全型热释放粘合剂绷带，因此将通过了解其在使用过程中的温度响应性能机制和在储存/运输过程中保持功能来优化性能，以选择未来产品的最佳候选产品。通过比较三种明显不同的添加剂，将通过分析表面分析，原子力显微镜（AFM）和剥离力测量来确定作用机制。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a high-adhesion medical tape that may be removed in seconds without skin injury. The proposed technology may be especially beneficial for children and elderly because they have thinner and more fragile skin. Medical tape is used to hold essential devices to the skin for long periods of time. Unfortunately, without means for safe removal, these strong adhesive tapes are painful to remove from the skin, often resulting in medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSI). Medical tape that offers high adhesion while providing means for safe removal may gain immediate traction in children’s hospitals. The proposed high-adhesion medical tape is designed to release from skin upon warming with a heat pack. The proposed technology may lead to commercialization of a novel medical tape that would affect patients and caregivers worldwide, leading to reductions of pain felt by patients and anxiety experienced by both patients and caregivers. In addition, there are other potential commercial applications outside of healthcare that benefit from heat-responsive adhesives, making for an expansive global market.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a temperature responsive adhesive that may be manufactured into high adhesion tapes and labels. The plan is to formulate a variety of temperature sensitive polymers (TSPs) and incorporate them into the pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) so when the mixture reaches 43°C, the tape loses most of its adhesion. Based on the makeup of the proposed PSA, certain TSP characteristics make these polymers compatible with the PSA. One TSP has been tested and the goal is to test others to understand how these various TSPs interact with a PSA system, and the mechanism for peel force reduction. Initial data on one TSP formulation has shown a 75% decrease in peel force after heating with a heat pack approved for human use. Since these additives are expected to create new classes of skin-safe heat-releasing adhesive bandages, performance will be optimized by understanding their temperature-responsive performance mechanisms during use and preserving functionality during storage/shipping to choose the best candidates for future products. By comparing three distinctly different additives, mechanisms of action will be determined by means of analytical surface analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and peel force measurements.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.