Wound healing using plasma modified collagen

Background: Wound healing remains a challenge in diabetic or immune-compromised patients and often requires the use of advanced biologic dressings to treat slow healing ulcers. The emergence of plasma medicine has provided some hope for advancement in wound closure rates for non-healing patients and some positive clinical results have already been observed. However, the potential to combine biologic dressings with plasma medicine has not yet been widely explored and this study outlines one potential way to combine such therapies. Methods: A nebulised collagen solution was introduced into a non-thermal plasma discharge and the activated materials were deposited onto a surface to produce a dry, adherent and coagulated biomolecule coating. The plasma device was subsequently used to deliver collagen on to chronic wounds in a compromised animal wound healing model (Alloxan induced diabetes in White New Zealand rabbits) and the healing rate was compared to untreated controls and to wounds that were treated with plasma but without the collagen deposition. Results: Surface analysis using XPS, FTIR and contact angle measurements indicated that the deposit largely retained the chemical features of the dissolved protein. The plasma deposited collagen was also shown to effectively promote wound closure when compared to control wounds. Although a simple plasma treatment alone also reduced inflammation and enhanced wound healing, the collagen component produced a statistically significant (p < 0.05) enhancement of both angiogenesis and wound closure rates. Conclusions: Combining a biologic therapy with a plasma treatment showed promising results in the treatment of chronic wounds in an animal model and demonstrated the potential to combine biologic therapies with plasma deposition for targeted local delivery and enhanced healing.