Wound Care Applications

Polyethylene oxide has been shown to be an excellent mucoadhesive polymer. Low levels of polyethylene oxide are effective thickeners, although alcohol is usually added to water-based formulations to provide improved viscosity stability see Table II. Polyethylene oxide films demonstrate good lubricity when wet. This property has been utilized in the development of coatings for medical devices. Polyethylene oxide can be radiation crosslinked in solution to produce a hydrogel that can be used in wound care applications. 

Wongpanit, P., Sanchavanakit, N., Pavasant, P. et al. (2005) Preparation and characterization of microwave-treated carboxymethylchitin and carboxymethylchitosan films for potential use in wound care application. Macromolecular Bioscience, 5(10), 1001-1012. 

Trudell, L., Thomson, T., Naik, S., Jauregui, H., Laboratory Experience with a New Biomaterial for Covering Wounds and Burns (as well as for other Biomedical Applications, Symposium on Advanced Wound Care and Medical Research Forum on Wound Repair, New Orleans, April, 1997. 

Use In orthopedic, ophthalmic, wound-care, drug-delivery, and surgical applications. 

Polymeric nanofibres have found various applications in the biomedical field, such as use of nanofibrous affinity membranes in selective separation, functional wound dressings in wound care and scaffolding materials for tissue repair and regeneration. 

Foster, L., Moore, R, 1997. The application of a cellulose-based fibre dressing in surgical wounds. Journal of Wound Care 6 (10), 469—473. 

A list of polymers for electrospinning that are applicable to wound care management is presented in Table 4.1 (Zahedi et al., 2010). 

In sheet form, AM is available with either the amnion and chorion layers together, or the amnion layer only, or as a double-sided membrane with two layers of AM oriented with the epithelial layers outward. The membrane comes as a fiat thin sheet to be placed directly upon wounds or to be wrapped around anatomical structures. This sheet form may or may not retain the nitrocellulose transfer sheet. AM is presently available in sheet form in various sizes ranging from 1.5 x 1.0 cm to 4.0 x 8.0 cm rectangular fashion. There are also specialty discs ranging in size from 10 to 16mm for specific applications in ocular and wound care surgery. The thickness of the individual sheets is also dependent on manufacturer and cellular components. 

The clinical applications of AM are varied in multiple medical disciplines. This is due to the changes in processing allowing for greater distribution and the physical characteristics of AM. The most widespread use has been found in the ocular field followed by wound care and skin substitutes for bums. The following sections provide an overview of the potential applications for AM use and are in no way exhaustive due to the multiple and continued advancement of this novel tissue grafting material in medicine and surgery. 

Film and sheeting applications for soft TPV grades include surgical drapes, dental dams, and elastic tapes for wound care in the medical and healthcare arena waist band tapes for clothing and elastic geomembranes in building and construction (Mapleston 2007). 

Examples of medical applications include controlled drug release,surgical sutures, lubricant powders for surgical gloves, bone plates and wound care. All of these potential uses, however, depend upon the biocompatibility and slow resorption of PHB in vivo. 

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