Description:
Project ID: D2018-09
Background
Wound healing requires oxygen, moisture, and pressure offloading. It is difficult to simultaneously obtain these conditions because oxygen has a low diffusivity in water. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an approved treatment which uses a pressurized chamber to increase oxygen absorption. However, patients must be ambulatory and complete a series of 30-60 sessions, each lasting about 2 hours. Additionally, HBOT chambers are not available everywhere and treatments cost between $15,000 and $40,000 over the duration of the treatment. Therefore, there is a need for an affordable and mobile treatment option to treat chronic wounds.
Invention Description
Researchers at the University of Toledo have developed a wound dressing capable of oxygen diffusion while still maintaining the moist environment ideal for healing. A microfabricated oxygen-permeable material is specially designed to maximize oxygen delivery.
Applications
• Oxygenating dressing for chronic wounds
• Available to those who are not eligible for hyperbaric treatment
Advantages
• Available to those who are not eligible for hyperbaric treatment or immobile
• Can be used in the comfort of a patient’s home and therefore, extend the treatment beyond two hours
• Does not require the use of deep reactive ion etching/expensive manufacturing methods
• More affordable than HBOT
IP Status: Patent Pending
Publication: Jaeger A, Das D, Morgan N, Pursley R, McQueen P, Hall M, Pohida T, Gottesman M. Microfabricated polymeric vessel mimetics for 3-D cancer cell culture Biomaterials. 2013 Nov; 34(33): 8301-8313.