1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to healing of wounds and wound-treatment therapies. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, the present disclosure relates to modified materials, for example, silyl modified polyurethane foam for the reversible binding of factors in a wound bed.
2. Background Information
Clinical studies and practice have shown that providing a reduced pressure in proximity to a tissue site augments and accelerates the growth of new tissue at the tissue site. The applications of this phenomenon are numerous, but application of reduced pressure has been particularly successful in treating wounds. This treatment (frequently referred to in the medical community as “negative pressure wound therapy,” “reduced pressure therapy,” or “vacuum therapy”) provides a number of benefits, including faster healing and increased formulation of granulation tissue. One of the major clinical benefits of negative pressure wound therapy is its ability to effectively eliminate wound exudate, thereby reducing edema and allowing tissue decompression. Negative pressure wound therapy may not always be able to differentiate between harmful and beneficial factors removed from the wound. Coating used to address this such as collagen, PVA, PEG, and fibrinogen often suffer from not being covalent, uniform, or target specific. Typically they cannot bind proteins at a specific site and present them to cells in a manner that allows the active site to retain its function. Improvements that would allow the binding of molecules in a covalent manner, specify the types of compounds that could be bound, the chemical reactions with which to bind them, and/or the orientation with which the protein is presented to the cells, e.g., for use in a dressing, wound insert, pad, etc., would therefore be highly desirable.