Under the Phase I contract, the Company will design a prototype wound dressing using advancements in the NIMBUS technology to speed the healing of wounds from chemical blister agents.

NIMBUS is a highly effective non-toxic, and extremely cost effective, microbicidal agent that can be permanently bonded to materials such as cotton, cotton blends or polyurethane to create advanced wound dressings, fabrics, or other medical, or consumer products.

"This SBIR will allow QMT to validate this core technology with a critical user, the Department of Defense medical community, and solve a long standing challenge for the Department of Defense -- the treatment of vesicant wounds." said Maj. Gen. George E. Friel (Ret.), Vice President of Chemical & Biological affairs of Quick-Med Technologies.

Chemical warfare agents such as sulfur mustard and Lewisite induce blistering skin injuries, which can vary in severity between second degree and third degree. These injuries can take several months to heal, necessitate lengthy hospitalizations, and result in significant cosmetic and/or functional deficits.

There are currently no standardized or optimized methods of casualty management that prevent or minimize deficits and provide for speedy wound healing. Recent advances have been made in improving the healing of these skin injuries using a variety of techniques to debride (remove) damaged tissue, including the use of medical lasers. Following debridement of deep injuries (third degree), skin grafting is required.

Following debridement of more superficial injuries (second degree), the cleansed wounds need to be covered with a dressing that will minimize wound contraction and scar tissue formation, and promote ingrowth of new skin cells (keratinocytes) to cover the wound in a process known as re-epithelialization.

The increased speed of wound healing afforded by debridement can be further improved through the use of an appropriate wound dressing that can provide a moist wound healing environment, absorb moderate amounts of wound fluids (exudates), provide antibacterial action, control the action of protein dissolving enzymes (proteases), and deliver nutritive substances and growth factors.

Many wound-healing dressings require frequent changes, thereby inflicting added burden on the medical logistical system. Similarly, additions of various growth factors, antiproteases, and nutritive substances have been shown to be beneficial when added to the wound bed. There is a need for a product, which can be used to treat chemical casualties that combine the features of several of these products. The current effort would use existing technology or products to develop a single, new dressing with all of these features. This is expected to be technically challenging, and will require innovative and creative approaches to meet the technical goals.

For use in battlefield scenarios and upper echelon medical facilities, such a product should have a long shelf life (e.g., 1 year), and not require special storage conditions (e.g., freezing).

The aim of this effort is to design a wound dressing that will return damaged skin to optimal appearance and normal function in the shortest time. Improved treatment will result in a better cosmetic and functional outcome for the patient, and a speedier return to duty, thereby decreasing medical logistical burden, sustaining operational tempo, and deterring use by enemy forces.

Phase I: Develop overall design of wound dressing, with preliminary in vitro or in vivo proof-of-concept experiments showing promising results.

Phase II: Develop and demonstrate efficacy of a prototype wound dressing. Conduct in-depth testing in an appropriate animal wound-healing model, comparing prototype dressing with a standard moisture-retentive dressing.

Phase III Dual Use Applications: This wound dressing could be used in a broad range of military and civilian medical settings. Dressing would benefit military and civilian patients suffering from vesicant burns, thermal burns, and chronic skin ulcers such as decubitus ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, arterial insufficiency ulcers, and diabetic foot ulcers.

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