Advanced Micro-patterned Wound Dressings for Enhanced Epithelialization

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nearly 12 million wounds are treated in U.S. emergency departments every year. Skin wounds such as severe burns, large trauma wounds, or non-healing/chronic wounds that are too extensive or complex to close by natural healing are often reconstructed using autologous skin grafts. Although autologous skin grafts are currently the gold standard in complex wound repair, there are significant rates of morbidities, including excessive pain and discomfort, risk of infection, loss of grafted skin, discoloration, scarring, an loss of sensation associated with both the graft and donor sites. This approach is also limited by the availability of healthy skin and is not a viable treatment option for severe burn patients. It s thus imperative to develop alternative treatments for large, full-thickness wounds. Sharklet Technologies, Inc. (STI) proposes to pursue innovative RandD focused on improving the treatment of full-thickness wounds, consistent with the mission of several institu