DERMA

Design of Enabling Regenerative Materials (DERMA) is a €2.7M EU Interreg 2 Seas project to develop novel dressings for the treatment of chronic dermal wounds.

DERMA will tackle the problem of advanced age or illness-associated inflammation, infection and ulceration of the skin which costs the EU €6.5 billion per year. Dermal ulcers and other non-healing wounds are a source of physical discomfort which often lead to further medical complications, and can release offensive odours that are distressing to the patient and may lead to social isolation and depression.

Project timeframe

This project commenced in September 2016 and will end in November 2019.

Project Aims

The objective of DERMA is to develop new interventions for the management and treatment of dermal ulcers and related skin conditions, including stomas. The technologies to be developed are; 1) a wound dressing with integrated odour-adsorbing agents to manage the release of offensive odours; 2) a diagnostic dressing to indicate the state of healing of the underlying wound, giving a visual indication as to whether the dressing needs to be changed.

Product prototypes will be supported with instructional computer animations and films for end-users; design progress will be documented using video diaries as an educational tool for other developers and users.

Project findings and impact

lmpact is possible through changes to clinical practice in the management of chronic dermal ulcers e.g. analyses of microbiota of wounds versus applied dressing type at Leaf Hospital will inform future practice. Potential for developed dressings to be produced by industry for clinical practice.

Potential beneficiaries will be:

elderly patients, cancer patients, diabetics, ostomates (improved treatment and quality of life)
healthcare providers (better treatment options and cost savings)
regional industry (boost for innovation, blue economy and sales).

Project partners

Research team

Iain Allan
Sandrine Fajner
Matt Illsley
Paul Gard
Matteo Santin
Dipak Sarker
Ian Cooper
Rachel Forss
Simon Otter
Flavia Fucassi

Output

DERMA website

Illsley M, Akhmetova A, Bowyer C, Nurgozhin T, Mikhalovsky SV, Farrer J, Dubruel P, Allan IU (2017). Activated carbon-plasticised agarose composite films for the adsorption of thiol as a model of wound malodour. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine 28 (10), 154.

Partners

University of Brighton – Brighton Centre for Regenerative Medicine (BCRM), Biomaterials and Biomedical Devices Group, and the Leaf Hospital (Eastbourne)

University of Portsmouth – Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries; University of Portsmouth Ageing Network (UPAN); Faculty of Science, School of Heath Sciences

University of Ghent (Belgium) – Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials Group, Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery

Eurasanté (Lille, France) – Development agency dedicated to tech transfer and business development in the life sciences sector