At Purdue University in Indiana, research and innovation is highly encouraged, making Purdue one of the “10 Most Innovative universities in the United States” according to U.S. News & World Report. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents.
It is not surprising that one faculty member, Rahim Rahimi (Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering) has come up with a much-needed advancement in the topical delivery of antibiotics to infected wounds. His innovation is a flexible polymer composite microneedle array that can overcome the physicochemical bacterial biofilm present in chronic, nonhealing wounds and deliver both oxygen and bactericidal agents simultaneously. The microneedles pierce the biofilm layer of a wound and deliver the medicine to oxygenate the tissue and effectively eradicate biofilm infections on the wound.
Professor Rahimi explains that microneedles pierce through the shield and they absorb the fluid underneath and dissolve, which delivers the antibiotic directly to the ulcerated cells and tissues. The lack of proper treatment of infected ulcers can lead to bacteremia and sepsis. Chronic wounds are one of the key causes of limb amputations.
Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) has filed a patent application on the intellectual property. The innovation is available for licensing.
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Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization