New Sprayable Liquid Wound Dressing to Improve Care on the Battlefield

Researchers are developing a new, sprayable liquid wound dressing technology that an injured warrior could apply one handed in a combat setting. The spray forms a tough hydrogel in seconds that conforms directly to the wound without sticking to it when removed.

The GelSprayTM Liquid Bandage was approved by the U.S. FDA for minor cuts and irritations in 2008, and its developers are preparing for a human clinical study required to extend the technology to battlefield care. The team is also working on variations that include medications to treat infection, speed healing and relieve pain.

Explains investigator Dr. Joachim Kohn of Rutgers University, “Because GelSpray conforms to the wound bed while in direct contact with the wound margins, it offers significant clinical advantages: The thick, protective film limits bleeding, absorbs wound fluids and directly transports medication to the entire wound bed. It does not significantly adhere to the wound bed—unlike most other dressings, where there is re-bleeding or delayed healing due to removal of granulation tissue whenever the wound dressing is removed.”

The GelSpray product for the far forward Soldier is designed for lacerations, small burns and gunshot and shrapnel wounds that are often on irregular surfaces such as the hand, face, neck and outer ear. It is meant to provide flexible protection that enables the Soldier to complete his or her mission.

Col. Dallas Hack, director of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Combat Casualty Care Research Program, says, “This technology shows promise for quicker wound healing with less care needed. The dressing is breathable, and if it can include an antimicrobial to prevent infection, then we may not need to damage tissue further through debridement [removing dead or contaminated tissue].”

Kohn is the principal investigator of the Center for Military Biomaterials Research (CeMBR), a network of academic, industry and military organizations whose mission is to support wounded warriors on and off the battlefield with practical, leading edge innovations. He notes, “CeMBR partnered with BioCure, Inc., to develop the GelSpray technology. Under the leadership of BioCure co-investigator Sameer Shums, we have made significant progress.”

CeMBR research programs are supported and guided by USAMRMC’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. “Feedback provided by TATRC’s national expert review panels has guided our product design efforts,” says Kohn. “TATRC and our program manager there, Wilbur Malloy, have provided us unwavering support.”

Kohn adds, “Our goal is to address the most critical needs of injured warriors for improved wound dressings. There is no other product that provides all these benefits and is specifically designed to meet military requirements.”

Rutgers VP of Research on the Impact of the Recovery Act

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) headlined a Capitol Hill press conference on November 17 at which AAU, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and The Science Coalition announced the launch of ScienceWorksForUS, their joint initiative to inform the public of the benefits of the Recovery Act research investment. The focus of the project is a website (www.ScienceWorksForUS.org) that highlights Recovery Act-sponsored research in all 50 states.

Speaker Pelosi was joined at the press event by Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ), House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), and Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Bill Foster (D-IL), as well as University of Arizona President Robert Shelton. Also participating were University of Pennsylvania Vice Provost for Research Steven Fluharty, Rutgers Vice President for Research Michael Pazzani, Ohio State Vice President for Research Caroline C. Whitacre, and researchers from Princeton and Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Pazzani's remarks on the impact of the Recovery Act research investment are below:

I’d like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Rush Holt, other representatives, congress and the adminstration for making the recovery act possible.

The website Recovery.rutgers.edu lists all grants and cumulative dollars, stories, but I want to highlight a few projects and their impacts, starting with one of our smallest.

• Professor Mark Gluck received a supplement to his existing NIH grant on Parkinson’s disease. This allowed him to hire two undergraduate honors students. In previous years, Rutgers students might have found part-time employments at Circuit City a company that was affected by economic downturn. In the short term, this grant provides students some funds for living expenses. The long-term impact may be more significant. Both students have decided to pursue graduate degrees adding to the talent base of the US. One of these students may very well find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
  


• Piotr Piotrowiak received an NSF instrumentation grant to develop an Ultrafast Fluorescence Microscope. This grant requires purchase of a state-of-the-art laser from a small company in Boulder, Colorado advancing reserach in New Jersey and helping a small company make a sale that otherwise would not have occured.



• Danielle McCarthy, who received her Ph.D. in 2006, was awarded an NIH Challenge grant “Phenotypic Markers for Smoking Cessation: Impulsive Choice and Impulsive Action.” Over 20,000 proposals were submitted for this and fewer than 1000 have funded after a rigorous and very competitive review process. This competition in US system of funding research builds excellence and is the model being adopted by other countries. Rather than giving a block grant to Rutgers, funds were given to federal agencies where a merit review system selects the proposals with the greatest potential. We are grateful to the employees of NIH and NSF who had to lead the review of tens of thousands of additional proposals this year. I am pleased that the review process found merit in the proposal of an assistant professor rather than simply providing additional funds to already established senior researchers.



• Professor Tamara Minko received a NIH award for “Targeted Proapoptotic Anticancer Drug Delivery System.” Today’s Anticancer Drugs are effective at killing cancer cells but also kill other cells in the body, resulting in side effects such as loss of hair and suppressed immune systems. With targeted delivery systems potent drugs can have an effect where needed with fewer side effects. Dr. Minko’s proposal was submitted last year to NIH as a five-year project, judged to be meritorious, but declined due to a lack of funds. The ARRA funds made it possible to get started on a two-year project on this important topic.



• An NIH supplement was received by Dr. Richard Ebright of Rutgers Waksman institute, named after Selman Waksmans, the Rutgers faculty member that discovered streptomycin, the cure for tuberculosis. Dr. Ebright is working on new antibiotics that are effective against bacteria that have developed resistance to streptomycin and other antibiotics. He already has several promising leads.

In the short-term, the over 100 recovery act grants that Rutgers received are providing jobs on Rutgers campus for researchers and technicians and indirectly to companies that supply equipment and services to Rutgers. In the long-term, these grants are increasing the scientific and engineering talent and creating innovations that will lead to a robust economy in future decades.


Photo Credit: V. Hume, The Science Coalition