I-Corps: Conductive hydrogel that can be applied to accelerate wound healing for diabetic patients with foot ulcers

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发糖尿病足溃疡患者的伤口护理治疗方法。目前需要的治疗方法将减少美国患有慢性不愈合伤口的人数，如晚期糖尿病足溃疡和压疮，因为这些是医疗保健系统的重大经济负担。该技术有望使伤口愈合速度加快25%，并将感染率降低10%。此外，拟议的治疗可以通过减少患并发症（如下肢截肢和足部溃疡导致的死亡）的患者数量来改善糖尿病社区的福祉。这项技术还可以通过缩短压力性溃疡的愈合时间来改善行动不便的人的生活质量，例如脊髓损伤患者和老年人护理机构的患者。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发一种导电水凝胶治疗来改善伤口愈合。具体来说，提出的技术是一种导电透明质酸（HA）为基础的水凝胶，可以直接局部应用于伤口，以启动和加速愈合过程，同时减少感染的发生率。迄今为止，研究的重点是材料的开发，其中表征了水凝胶的粘弹性、膨胀、降解和导电性能。此外，还进行了体外测试，以评估包封在水凝胶中的干细胞的生存能力和增殖能力。局部导电水凝胶治疗可以促进对导电生物材料治疗皮肤伤口有效性的认识。此外，建议的经皮电刺激治疗的辅助应用可能潜在地指导未来伤口护理治疗的方向。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 wound care treatment for diabetic patients with foot ulcers. There is a current need for treatments that will reduce the number of people in the U.S. suffering from chronic non-healing wounds, such as higher stage diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers, as these are a significant economic burden on the healthcare system. The proposed technology is expected to accelerate wound healing by 25% and reduce infection rates by 10%. In addition, the proposed treatment may improve the well-being of the diabetic community by reducing the number of patients that suffer complications such as lower limb amputation and death due to foot ulcers. The proposed technology also may improve the quality of life for people living with limited mobility such as spinal cord injury patients and those in elder care facilities by reducing the healing time of pressure ulcers.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a conductive hydrogel treatment to improve wound healing. Specifically, the proposed technology is a conductive Hyaluronic Acid (HA)-based hydrogel that may be topically applied directly to wounds to initiate and accelerate the healing process while reducing the incidence of infection. To date, the research has focused on material development where the viscoelastic, swelling, degradation and conductive properties of the hydrogel were characterized. In addition, in vitro testing to assess the viability and proliferation of stem cells encapsulated within the hydrogel was conducted. A topical conductive hydrogel treatment may advance knowledge of the effectiveness of conductive biomaterials for treatment of dermal wounds. Further, adjunctive application of the proposed treatment with transdermal electrical stimulation may potentially guide the direction of future wound care treatments.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.