August 14, 2019
The American population is aging, and conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are on the rise. With those factors in place, the medical community has growing concerns about wound treatment. According to the American Professional Wound Care Association, about 15 percent of Medicare recipients suffer chronic, non-healing wounds with an annual cost of about $30 billion. Andy Koppisch, Robert Keller and Nate Nieto.
Recently, scientists have been exploring tissue engineering to treat wounds and promote better healing. One new approach is to use three-dimensional skin substitutes formed from native skin proteins through a process called electrospinning. These electrospun protein “scaffolds” guide cell adhesion and growth and can be used to deliver cells, drugs and even genes into the body. Research is shifting from using synthetic materials for scaffolds to degradable, porous materials that can provide a more natural, effective and aesthetic healing environment.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54MD012388. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.