Compositions with reactive ingredients, and wound dressings, apparatuses, and methods
View Patent ↗Wound dressings and wound inserts comprising substantially dry reactive agents, methods of forming wound inserts comprising dry reactive agents, and wound-treatment methods.
1. A wound insert, comprising:
an open-celled foam configured to be disposed between a wound of a patient and a drape configured to be coupled to skin adjacent the wound; and
a reactive agent disposed within the foam, and configured to be inert in the absence of an activating fluid and to exhibit antimicrobial properties in the presence of an activating fluid;
wherein the reactive agent is configured to react with water to release hypochlorite ion and/or form hypochlorous acid.
2. The wound insert of claim 1 , where the reactive agent comprises a hypochlorite salt defined by M(OCl)n, where n=1 if M is K + , Li + , or Na + , and where n=2 if M is Ca 2+ or Mg 2+ .
3. The wound insert of claim 1 , further comprising
a biocompatible suspension agent that couples the reactive agent to the foam and optionally at least partially encapsulates the reactive agent.
4. The wound insert of claim 3 , where the suspension agent comprises polycaprolactone (PCL).
5. The wound insert of claim 3 , where the wound insert is configured to release a hypochlorite ion in the presence of a volume of activating liquid such that after release the volume of activating liquid will have a concentration of hypochlorite ion between 0.7 and 20 millimolar (mM).
6. The wound insert of claim 5 , where the wound insert is configured to release a hypochlorite ion in the presence of each of three or more sequential volumes of activating liquid such that after release each sequential volume of activating liquid will have a concentration of hypochlorite ion between 0.7 and 20 millimolar (mM).
7. The wound insert of claim 3 , where the foam comprises silicone.
8. The wound insert of claim 3 , further comprising:
a second open-celled foam that is not coupled to the reactive agent;
where the first open-celled foam is configured to be inert in the present of the reactive agent, and forms a first layer of the wound insert; and
where the second open-celled foam forms a second layer of the wound insert, and is coupled to the first open-celled foam.
9. A wound dressing comprising:
a wound insert comprising:
an open-celled foam configured to be disposed between a wound of a patient and a drape configured to be coupled to skin adjacent the wound;
a reactive agent disposed within the foam, and configured to be inert in the absence of an activating fluid and to exhibit antimicrobial properties in the presence of an activating fluid;
wherein the reactive agent is configured to react with water to release hypochlorite ion and/or form hypochlorous acid; and
a biocompatible suspension agent that couples the reactive agent to the foam and optionally at least partially encapsulates the reactive agent; and
a drape configured to be coupled to skin adjacent a wound of a patient.
10. A wound-treatment apparatus comprising:
a wound insert comprising
an open-celled foam configured to be disposed between a wound of a patient and a drape configured to be coupled to skin adjacent the wound;
a reactive agent disposed within the foam, and configured to be inert in the absence of an activating fluid and to exhibit antimicrobial properties in the presence of an activating fluid;
wherein the reactive agent is configured to react with water to release hypochlorite ion and/or form hypochlorous acid; and
a biocompatible suspension agent that couples the reactive agent to the foam and optionally at least partially encapsulates the reactive agent;
a drape configured to be coupled to skin adjacent a wound of a patient; and
a fluid source configured to be coupled to the wound dressing such that the fluid source is actuatable to deliver a fluid to the wound dressing.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a vacuum source configured to be coupled to the wound dressing such that the vacuum source is actuatable to apply negative pressure to the wound dressing.
12. A method comprising:
adding hypochlorite salt particles to a solution such that the solution and hypochlorite salt form a slurry, the solution comprising a polymer and a liquid that is a solvent of the polymer but not a solvent of the hypochlorite salt;
substantially removing the liquid from the slurry such that at least a portion of the hypochlorite salt particles are at least partially encapsulated by the polymer.
13. The method of claim 12 , where the hypochlorite salt is defined by M(OCl)n, where n=1 if M is K + , Li + , or Na + , and where n=2 if M is Ca 2+ or Mg 2+ .
14. The method of claim 13 , where the hypochlorite salt is defined by Ca(OCl) 2 .
15. The method of claim 12 , where the polymer is biocompatible and optionally biodegradable.
16. The method of claim 15 , where the polymer is not water soluble.
17. The method of claim 16 , where the polymer comprises polycaprolactone (PCL).
18. The method of claim 12 , where the solvent is non-aqueous.
19. The method of claim 18 , where the solvent comprises at least one of Dichloromethane (DCM or methylene chloride), Tetrahydrofuran (THF), or Cyclohexane.
20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
disposing, prior to substantially removing the liquid, a foam in the slurry such that hypochlorite salt particles and polymer are dispersed within the foam.
21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising:
reducing, prior to adding the hypochlorite salt particles into the solution, the size of the hypochlorite salt particles such that a majority of the hypochlorite salt particles have a size at or below a target size.
22. The method of claim 21 , where the target size is 180 microns.