SBIR Phase I: Zwitterion self-assembly during evaporation process correlated to thin film mechanical function

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to effectively treat skin tears, which when mismanaged, have a high propensity to become complex and chronic wounds involving infection, pain and delayed wound healing and impose health and financial burdens on individuals and care agencies. Skin tear injury effects at least 1.9 million institutionalized patients yearly and has a high probability to reoccur in high-risk categories, elderly and neonates. Though frequently under-reported, the literature suggests skin tears have a prevalence that is similar to pressure injuries. In USA long term care settings, the prevalence rate is 20% with skin tears principally on arms (60%) and legs (40%) occurring during daily routines. This research is to provide a skin tear treatment that requires less nursing time, reduces pain, and improves healing times resulting in improved patient quality of life and treatment cost savings. The estimated USA market for skin tear treatment is $646 million/year with 44% ($285 million/year) coming from nursing homes, wound care clinics and home health. The innovative chemistry developed through this research could be applied to other medical devices, separation membranes, and coatings/films to provide mechanical strength, anti-fouling, or size exclusion separation. The proposed project is to investigate the premise that zwitterion-containing polymers can be created that retain epidermal-like membrane properties for wound healing and demonstrate mechanical strength when evaporated as thin films (e.g., Saran™ wrap-like). Each of these intellectually challenging goals is a technical hurdle to be addressed by the proposed R&D. The research findings are to direct the research for and subsequent development of a skin tear treatment product. The Phase I research focus is to synthesize and characterize this unique class of film-forming copolymers that contain zwitterions - with specific objectives to synthesize zwitterionic polymers, characterize polymers, determine mechanical properties and correlate morphology to mechanical properties. This research is to provide vital feasibility data for polymer synthesis, masking of zwitterion self-assembly, and zwitterion self-assembly parameters during solvent evaporation to form a strong polymer film. The resulting platform chemistry and body of knowledge is anticipated to be translated into a wound care product for skin tear treatment. 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.