New wound dressing

It could be the solution for soldiers injured with a life-threatening wound in a remote area.

A new wound dressing surface developed by a University of Rhode Island textile chemist and the president of a Massachusetts biomedical firm could be the solution for soldiers injured with a life-threatening wound in a remote area, as well as police officers, firefighters, hikers, rock climbers and emergency medical personnel.

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Martin Bide, URI professor of textiles, fashion merchandising and design, and Matthew Phone, president of BioSurfaces, Ashland, Massechuets have invented a wound-dressing surface based on polyester that combines infection resistance with enhanced blood-clotting properties.

"We have this technology and we know it works, and we're going to continue to refine it, but if there are companies, agencies or businesses interested in buying it, URI would be interested in talking about how that could be accomplished," said Bide.

According to Bide and Phaneuf, a polyester material with polyurethane is inlayed into the structure to provide the properties of elasticity. The base material is modified chemically so that it provides anchor for protein attachment. After that step, the broad-spectrum antibiotic Cipro is incorporated into the polyester using textile dyeing technology, followed by the biologically-active agent thrombin, a pivotal enzyme in the clotting process.

"The specific protein, thrombin, kicks off the body's clotting mechanism, and while that is working, the antibiotic is moving into the wound to prevent infection," explained Phaneuf.

"We have a multi-use textile with a multifaceted surface. We found a successful way to attach these chemical groups without degrading the polyester," he concluded.