The demand for medical wound dressings is universal. Ranging in use from treating minor cuts to traumatic injuries, medical wound dressings prevent infections and save lives. In the case of traumatic injury, current wound dressings often require the application of a variety of materials, such as a combination of wound-filling gels, gauze, tape, and splints. However, Dr. Schlenoff’s research and discovery of saloplastics can decrease the number of necessary materials needed since saloplastic dressings can treat multiple aspects of a wound.
The process of creating saloplastics uses salt instead of heat to melt plastics made from blends of charged polymers. By placing layers of positively and negatively charged electrolytes on top of one another, their electrical charges cancel each other out and create a neutrally charged, ultrathin film. These ultra-thin polymer coatings are useful for producing biocompatible surfaces that can be implanted into the human body for medical purposes.
Approximately 750,000 Americans suffer strokes each year. Worldwide, that number increases to 20 million people. Primary stroke damage occurs from blood clotting and secondary damage occurs when toxic byproducts, including hemin, are produced from the trauma experienced during a stroke. This condition, known as hemin toxicity, leads to cell damage and cell death that in turn may cause irreparable brain damage or death for the individual.
With Dr. Schlenoff’s research, stents used for implantation inside coronary arteries during surgical procedures could be coated with an ultrathin film that prevents cells and proteins from adhering, thus avoiding a narrowing of the arteries and restriction of blood flow.
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Applications:
- First responder scenarios
- Chronic Wounds
- Medical practitioners to consumers
- Military
Advantages:
- Antibacterial, moldable when wet, and cast-like when dry
- Low heating temperatures, 45 – 55 degrees C, are needed to soften the material.
- One material can treat multiple aspects of a wound.
- Within minutes, the most serious wounds and breaks can be sealed and immobilized.
