Electrospun nanofibers and membrane

ABSTRACT

The society aging and the related chronic pathologies will become predominant in the next future, increasing the healthcare costs. Chronic wounds are often related to chronic diseases (as diabetes and cancer). Moreover surgeries, frequent in elderly population, and burns are often lesions difficult to heal. The platform proposed and patented develops nanofibrous scaffolds entirely based on polysaccharides as skin substitutes to achieve wound healing.

DESCRIPTION

The developed scaffolds are based on glycosaminoglycan (chondroitin sulfate or hyaluronic acid) associated to chitosan, pullulan in presence of citric acid and electrospun starting from an aqueous/acetic polymeric solution. The nanofibrous membranes are crosslinked by sterilized heating. The scaffolds have mechanical properties suitable for in vivo application. Moreover the scaffolds allow to support in vitro fibroblasts and endothelial cells adhesion and proliferation and demonstrated to enhance skin healing in an in vivo burn model (rats). The scaffolds can be easily loaded with antimicrobial agents (as silver) or chemotherapeutic agents (as norfloxacin). Moreover the systems can be reinforced with inorganic particles. The manufacture is based on electrospinning using a simple, one-step and solvent free process to obtain ultrafine and long fibers as a non-woven structure. Scale up activity and identification of critical quality attribute are on going.

ADVANTAGES

• Employment of non-immunogenic materials
• Solvent free preparation
• Ease of sterilization
• Storage at room temperature in dry state
• Ease of scaling up

APPLICATIONS

• Chronic non healing wounds (diabetic foot, venous leg ulcers, bed sores)
• Burns
• Surgical lesions
• Infected wounds (if loaded with antimicrobial agents)

INVENTORS

Giuseppina Sandri, Maria Cristina Bonferoni, Silvia Rossi, Carla Caramella, Franca Ferrari

KEYWORDS

Chronic wounds, Implantable medical device, Glycosaminoglycans, Chitosan, Electrospinning

PRIORITY NUMBERS

PCT/IT2017/000160

APPLICANT

Università di Pavia (100%)