A collagen-based wound sealant, prepared as a thick liquid and poured or injected into a wound, where it polymerizes in situ. Suitable for human medical, veterinary, and dental practice applications, the sealant could improve the success rate of healing difficult wounds such as bedsores and diabetic ulcers. The TAMU sealant has been shown to speed the closure of wounds and increase the incidence of healing in preliminary tests with laboratory animals. The sealant could also potentially serve as a drug delivery system with broad applications for human medical, veterinary, and dental practice applications.
Minor wounds normally heal with minimal treatment, but more serious injuries, wounds that recur or wounds complicated by other factors such as age or diabetes often require assistance to heal. Healing of such wounds is often further complicated by infection and is conventionally achieved primarily by encouraging scar tissue formation. The TAMU sealant is gentle but strong, and could increase the over-all healing success rate for recurrent wounds such as pressure ulcers, which are typically treated repeatedly with no permanent solution.
The wound sealant is in liquid form and is easy to apply either by pouring or injection. Collagen, which naturally comprises 60% of skin, gives mechanical strength to the wound. The technique uses a cross-linking reaction to bind the collagen to the wound, where it forms a semi-solid gel that does not need to be removed.
Growth factors can increase the incidence of healing. The substances that stimulate new tissue growth usually only last a few seconds before enzymes in the body break them down. The fibroblast growth factor stimulates the growth of fibroblasts and epithelial cells, and also stimulates angiogenesis, which is the in-growth of new blood vessels. The TAMU wound sealant will allow the fibroblast growth factor which is incorporated into the sealant, to persist longer. It should also work with other growth factors.
The incidence of infection could also be reduced due to antibiotics in the sealant. The compounds used have natural antibiotic properties, and additional time-released antibiotics can be incorporated. Another additive to the sealant helps with scarring. Similarly, topical anesthetics or other time-released drugs could be added, creating a wide range of potential medical, dental and veterinary applications.
