Medical dressings include a non-woven polymeric nanofiber mat embedded within a chitosan hydrogel matrix. The dressings may be obtained by electro spinning of polymeric nanofibers and thereafter incorporating a chitosan hydrogel into interstices of the mat by vacuum or positive pressure assistance. The resulting medical dressings may be optically transparent (e.g., at least about 50% up to about 95% light transmittance), flexible, and mechanically robust. The dressings may also incorporate self-adhesion promoters to allow self-adhesion to biological tissue, e.g., ocular surfaces, and/or therapeutic agents which are capable of delivering therapeutics (e.g. stem cells, drugs and the like) to the tissue surface. The dressings are especially useful as ocular bandages for the treatment and repair of ocular wounds.

Medical dressings include a non-woven polymeric nanofiber mat embedded within a chitosan hydrogel matrix. The dressings may be obtained by electro spinning of polymeric nanofibers and thereafter incorporating a chitosan hydrogel into interstices of the mat by vacuum or positive pressure assistance. The resulting medical dressings may be optically transparent (e.g., at least about 50% up to about 95% light transmittance), flexible, and mechanically robust. The dressings may also incorporate self-adhesion promoters to allow self-adhesion to biological tissue, e.g., ocular surfaces, and/or therapeutic agents which are capable of delivering therapeutics (e.g. stem cells, drugs and the like) to the tissue surface. The dressings are especially useful as ocular bandages for the treatment and repair of ocular wounds.

Novel collagen-mimetic peptides are disclosed comprising the formula (Xaa-Yaa-Gly).sub.n, where the amino acid at one of the Xaa positions is substituted with a homocysteine residue. Also disclosed are multi-stranded novel collagen-mimetic peptides comprising a first strand as described above that is covalently bonded with a disulfide bridge to a second strand comprising the formula (Xaa-Yaa-Gly).sub.m, where the amino acid at one of the Yaa positions is substituted with a cysteine residue. Disulfide formation between the terminal thiol sulfur of the homocysteine residue of the first strand and the terminal thiol sulfur of the cysteine residue of the second strand reveals unstrained bridges that enhance the structure and substantially improve the stability of collagen triple helices as compared to other possible disulfide or thioether bridges. Thus, the disclosed collagen mimetic peptides have improved stability, and can be used to produce optimized collagen-like fibrillar assemblies for wound healing and other biomedical applications.

The present invention relates to the field of pharmaceutics and medicine, in particular, to a method for producing a suspended form of ground decellularized extracellular matrix with size-controlled structural components, the suspended form not 5 requiring pre-hydration, and to a product produced by this method, for stimulation of reparative regeneration of tissues.

The present invention is directed to a hemostatic semi-solid paste material comprising a bioabsorbable carrier hemostatic material; and a supplemental hemostatic agent; wherein the paste material has an elongated form extending along a lengthwise axis with an aspect ratio of at least 3; wherein the paste is self-supporting and syringe extrudable; and wherein the supplemental hemostatic agent has a non-homogenous distribution profile across a cross-section taken across the lengthwise axis. In another aspect, the present invention relates to devices for forming and expressing the hemostatic material.

A plasma coating device for treating a wound comprises a plasma chamber having: one or more electrodes, a gas supply inlet, a plasma outlet exposed to ambient pressure, and an ignition system operatively connected to the electrodes for providing a non-thermal equilibrium plasma within the plasma chamber. An aerosol delivery system is operable to introduce a bioresorbable material as an aerosol into the plasma, to produce a coating on the wound surface.

Methods and systems for stiffening of tissue are presented to allow improved processing. Solutions including an acid or a base can be contacted with tissue to stiffen one or more components of the tissue. The resulting stiffened tissue can be used in the creation of wound treatment devices.

The invention provides a dry biocompatible film comprising at least one film forming material and particulate egg shell membrane (ESM), wherein said particulate ESM is distributed substantially uniformly in and/or on the film and wherein said film, or portion thereof, disintegrates upon contact with a wound or an exudate thereof. The invention further provides methods for preparing the films of the invention and the uses thereof in methods to promote the healing of wounds.

Disclosed is a wound treatment that includes collagen and a gelatin-reducing agent. Also disclosed is a wound dressing including a substrate, collagen, and a gelatin-reducing agent. The collagen and gelatin-reducing agent may be present in any suitable a weight ratio relative to one another, such as a weight ratio of about 0.25:1 to about 4:1 with respect to one another. Also disclosed is a method for promoting wound healing including administering collagen and a gelatin-reducing agent to a wound in need of treatment.

Described herein are compositions of collagen and micronized placental tissue components, methods for producing the same and methods for using the same for wound healing, repairing damaged tendons, cosmetic applications and covering biocompatible materials and/or devices.