Medical Applications for Electrostatic Flocking, Part 2: Flock for Chronic Wound Management
Note: This is part two of a three-part series of AFA blogs discussing biomedical applications for flock. Today’s looks at using flocked biomedicals for healing chronic wounds. All three blogs are based on a research paper, published December of 2021 titled “Understanding and utilizing textile-based electrostatic flocking for biomedical applications,” funded in part by the National Institute of Health.
From school yard scrapes treated with a band aid to serious injuries that require stitches, most wounds heal through a predictable series of stages over a short, and predictable, period of time. But not all wounds can heal, even with continued help from advanced medical care.
According to a National Library of Medicine article titled “Chronic Wounds: Overview,” wounds that do not heal after 8 weeks are considered chronic. Pressure ulcers (also known as bed sores) are an example, as are wounds from serious injuries and burns.
Treating chronic wounds can be very difficult. Meanwhile, wounds that do not heal over time can wear down a body’s immune system and even cause death.
According to “Understanding and utilizing textile-based electrostatic flocking for biomedical applications,” flocked biomedical substrates treated with antibiotics, silver, antioxidants or other forms of medication may be able to heal chronic wounds that standard medical approaches have failed to resolve.
“In theory,” said the study, “degradable flock fibers flocked into a wound-covering substrate could be applied directly to a cleaned wound,” flocking side down, “with the fibers penetrating the wound and the substrate sealing the outside of the wound from the surrounding environment.” New layers of tissue could form inside this structure, with the flock fibers acting as “mechanical guides” for reconstruction of tissue inside the wound bed.
The study goes on to add that using bioactive materials for the substrate to which the flock is attached “can help to concurrently seal, protect and re-form the outer layer of the wound.”
The ideas discussed above involve using biocompatible materials for the substrate, adhesive and flock. These include, but are not limited to, collagen, chitosan, and natural brown seaweed alginate hydrogels.
The study concludes that electrostatically flocked biomedical materials have the potential to offer breakthroughs for acute wound treatment and chronic wound management. However, further study is needed to prove these theories.
That said, as new developments evolve related to flocked biomaterials for wound care, AFA blog will keep you informed.
To learn more, here is the link to the study.
Next month, we will discuss flocking for viral swabbing.
Author’s notes:
This study was led by Alec McCarthy in the Department of Surgery – Transplant – and the Mary and Dick Holland Regenerative Medicine Program at the College of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.