Research
Soy Protein Multidrug Wound Dressings and Skin Substitutes
Soy Protein
Soy protein has been studied to date mainly in the food and agriculture fields. It was selected for the current project due to its unique combination of biocompatibility, degradation into natural components, tissue-like properties as well as its low price and high availability. Since it is a non-animal origin natural polymer, there is no risk of transmissible diseases when being used as a biomaterial.
In addition, its high processability which enables tailorable mechanical and physical properties, relatively long storage time, and its ability to promote tissue regeneration and stimulate collagen deposition, make it excellent candidate for wound healing applications.
Hybrid Film Structures
Hybrid film structures were developed and studied as a novel wound dressing platform with controlled release of three bioactive agents. The dense top layer is designed to provide mechanical support, control the water vapor permeability and to elute antibiotic and analgesic drugs to the wound site within several hours. The porous sub-layer is designed to absorb the wound exudates and release hemostatic agent within several minutes for bleeding control.
These novel multidrug-loaded hybrid soy protein wound dressings demonstrated a biocompatible platform with proper and adjustable mechanical and physical properties which make them excellent candidates for life-saving wound healing applications. An in-vivo study for assessment of pain relief effect demonstrated significant pain relief effect of 70% for at least three days.