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Formulation of fibrous antibacterial wound dressings

Terrmin

HT25

Beskrivning

Wound infections are a major concern in healthcare, necessitating the development of advanced wound dressings with antibacterial properties. This project aims to formulate stimuli-responsive, nanoparticle-loaded electrospun mats using biodegradable polymers to create antibiotic-free antibacterial wound dressings. By leveraging electrospinning technology, biocompatible polymeric nanofibers will be developed, offering enhanced wound healing capabilities.

Background
Biocompatible polymers are widely used in biomedical fields, as different drugs or other additives can be easily linked to the polymer or distributed within them in the same solvent, resulting in a multicomponent composite system. Electrospinning is a well-established technique to produce nanofibers from these biocompatible polymers, which are beneficial for various biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, wound dressing, and drug delivery.
Electrospinning offers multiple advantages: it is a simple, cost-effective, reproducible, scalable, and reliable technique. Additionally, various polymers can be utilized as starting materials.
An effective wound dressing should fulfill multiple requirements:
• Shielding the wound against bacterial infection
• Facilitating proper gas exchange
• Providing an environment that promotes healing
• Controlling biofluid production
• Being non-toxic and hypoallergenic

Methods
The fibrous mats will be prepared by electrospinning. The precursor solutions for electrospinning will be optimized with a focus on finding a proper, non-invasive solvent that is compatible with all polymers in the future fiber blend, along with optimizing polymer concentration. Furthermore, electrospinning parameters will be fine-tuned using a Design of Experiments (DOE) approach to produce fine, bead-free fibers with a homogeneous distribution of flame-made nanoparticles.
The nano- or microfibers will be characterized using different techniques, including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) & Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fluorescence Microscopy. Additionally, nanoparticle release from the fibers will be investigated.

My tasks
• Investigating solvent compatibility
• Fine-tuning precursor solution parameters
• Optimizing electrospinning process parameters
• Conducting physicochemical characterization of the produced fibers

Expected Results
The expected outcome of this project is the development of fine, bead-free fibers with a homogeneous nanoparticle distribution, exhibiting potential antibacterial effects, making them promising candidates for antibiotic-free wound dressings.

This project will require some travel to Stockholm University where the electrospinning set-up is located.

Huvudområde

Läkemedelsutveckling

Ämne

Läkemedelsformulering och Molekylär galenisk farmaci

Typ

Laborativ studie

Företag

Uppsala University

Ort/Plats

Uppsala

Handledarens namn

Krisztina Juriga-Tóth

Handledarens e-post

krisztina.juriga-toth@uu.se

Institution

Institutionen för farmaci

Program

Masterprogram i läkemedelsutveckling

Kurs

Degree project in Drug Discovery and Development 45 c - 3FK044

Omfattning/hp

45hp