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.
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.
