I-Corps: Immunomodulatory Patch for Periodontal Regeneration

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种可溶解的微针贴片，提供抗生素的持续释放和局部递送。该技术的第一个应用将是治疗牙周炎，这是一种广泛传播的口腔疾病，影响全球47.2%的成年人。目前，抗生素产品仅用于严重的牙周炎病例，因为产品泄漏产生抗生素耐药菌株的风险很高。通过利用所提出的技术将抗生素直接输送到局部组织，所提出的微针贴片克服了保留和泄漏问题。此外，建议的设计只需要很少的应用培训，甚至不需要培训，并且可以很容易地用作护理点治疗。患者最终可能有处方直接使用贴片。这将是第一个在当地提供的用于家庭护理治疗牙周炎的抗生素。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种工程化、可溶解的微阵列给药平台，该平台可提供用于治疗牙周病的抗生素的持续释放和局部给药。提出的技术是一种可溶解的贴片，带有可生物降解的微针，为患者提供了一种即时护理选择，以便他们方便地进行抗生素治疗。建议的贴片可以防止最初引起牙周炎的细菌菌落的再生，并促进牙龈组织的再生。贴片应用于牙龈组织，在那里，膜支持被设计成快速溶解，以释放抗生素，立即减少微环境中的细菌含量。这种具有生物相容性和生物可吸收性的微针穿透并停留在牙龈组织中，促进生物分子的持续释放。提出的技术目标是克服渗透不足和局部保留以及抗菌和免疫调节的问题。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 dissolvable microneedle patch that provides a sustained release and local delivery of antibiotics. The first application of the proposed technology will be the treatment of periodontitis, a wide-spread oral disease that impacts up to 47.2% of all adults worldwide. Currently, antibiotic products are only used for severe cases of periodontitis due to the high risk of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains developing from the leakage of product. By utilizing the proposed technology to deliver antibiotics directly to the local tissue, the proposed microneedle patch overcomes retention and leakage issues. In addition, the proposed design requires minimal to no training for application, and may be easily used as a point-of-care treatment. Patients may eventually have direct access to using the patch with a prescription. This would be the first locally delivered antibiotic for at home care to treat periodontitis. This I-Corps project is based on the development of an engineered, dissolvable, microarray delivery platform that provides a sustained release and local delivery of antibiotics aimed at treating periodontal disease. The proposed technology is a dissolvable patch with biodegradable microneedles, offering a point-of-care option for patients to administer antibiotic treatment at their convenience. The proposed patch may prevent regrowth of the bacterial colonies that initially cause periodontitis and encourage gingival tissue regrowth. The patch is applied to gingival tissue where the membrane support is designed to dissolve quickly for a burst release of antibiotics to immediately reduce bacterial content in the microenvironment. The biocompatible and bioresorbable microneedles penetrate and stay in gingival tissue for the sustained release of biomolecules. The goal of the proposed technology is to overcomes the problems of insufficient penetration and local retention as well as antibacterial and immune modulation.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.