Hard-to-heal open wounds may have met their match in the form of a cottony glass material developed at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The glass fiber material could become a source of relief for diabetics fighting infections. It also could be used by battlefield medics or emergency medical technicians to treat wounds in the field.
In a recent clinical trial, the material was found to speed the healing of venous stasis wounds in eight out of the 12 patients enrolled in the trial. Details about the trials and the material were published in the May issue of the American Ceramic Society's Bulletin magazine.
The material - a nanofiber borate glass - was developed in the laboratories of Missouri S&T's Graduate Center for Materials Research and the Center for Bone and Tissue Repair and Regeneration, says Dr. Delbert E. Day, Curators' Professor emeritus of ceramic engineering and a pioneer in the development of bioglass materials. Day and his former student, Dr. Steve Jung, developed the material over the past five years.
Reviewed 2016-03-11