Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Drug Delivery: Wound Healing Applications

“The repair of wounds is one of the most complex biological processes that occur in human life” [Gurtner et al. Nature 2008].

The long-term objective of this work is the development of a drug eluting layer-by-layer (LBL) film for the treatment of large and chronic wounds. With its ability to sustain a localized delivery of a combination of therapeutic agents, LBL assembly offers a potential solution to the complex problem of wound healing. The drugs to be delivered will focus on the key pathological causes for large and chronic wounds: infection, inflammation, poor vascularization, and scar tissue formation.

The focus of this thesis will be the rational design of an LBL assembly to address the multi-dimensional nature of large and chronic wounds. This will be done through the controlled release of multiple therapeutic agents including anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, and small interfering RNA (siRNA). Using established techniques to construct LBL films, this work will aim to control film properties to maintain combinatory drug release over a physiologically relevant timescale.