Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
16.7
MC as a Wound Healing System
Wound care is one of the most lucrative and rapidly expanding medical device mar-
ket segments for both manufactures and providers. World demand for wound care
management products will increase 5.4% annually through 2013. A wound dressing
includes a i rst layer located adjacent to the wound and is comprised of a material which
should be biosorbable, porous and adapted for serving as a scaf old for cell attachment
and proliferation; and a second layer which is in contact with the i rst layer and is com-
prised of an absorbent, gel forming material adapted for serving as barrier to cell adhe-
sion and penetration [38]. Wound healing is a complex dynamic process that involves
the complex interaction of various cell types, tissues, extra cellular matrix (ECM) mol-
ecules, and soluble compounds. Typically, normal wound healing progresses through a
series of processes including homeostasis, inl ammation, granulation tissue formation,
and remodeling [39]. Advanced wound care therapy can be used to enable chronic
wounds to heal. h ere are three major directions in which wound-healing research is
presently aimed [40]: (i) improvement of wound healing by elements which may poten-
tially accelerate healing and reduce scarring, (ii) development of novel skin substitutes
as equivalents of autograt skin, and (iii) identii cation of signals that trigger the process
of healing by regeneration rather than repair (scar formation). An ideal wound healing
system is one that is sterile, breathable and conductive for a moist healing environment.
It should reduce infection risk, pain and discomfort, help the wound heal more quickly
by creating an optimal environment for epidermal regeneration and reduce scarring.
In the past years there have been many dif erent biological and synthetic wound dress-
ing materials developed for healing surgical and nonsurgical wounds [40-43]. Some of
these materials were practically successful in wound healing, however a search for the
ideal wound dressing material is still continuing. According to modern approaches in
the i eld of wound healing, an ideal wound dressing system must display similarity to
autograt skin, both structurally and functionally [40]. h e essential characteristics of a
modern wound dressing materials are: [44]
1. nontoxic, nonpyrogenic, biocompatible;
2. able to provide barrier against infection, control l uid loss, reduce pain
during treatment, create and maintain a moist environment in the
wound, absorb exudates during inl ammatory phase and provide easy
and close wound coverage;
3. enable introduction or transfer of medicines into the wound;
4. have high mechanical strength, elasticity and conformability;
Figure 16.2
Fermentation of microbial cellulose by
Acetobacter xylinum
.
