QSI RENU Team Receives MTEC Grant to Develop Regenerative System for Wound Healing
Grant supports Northwestern-led team creating a wireless regenerative system to improve wound healing outcomes
A research team at the Querrey Simpson Institute for Regenerative Engineering at Northwestern University (QSI RENU) has received a four-year, $4.7 million grant from the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Research & Engineering Directorate via the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium to develop an integrated system that can simultaneously accelerate wound healing, lower infection risk, and provide continuous in-wound monitoring. Launched in April of this year, QSI RENU aims to develop scalable and reliable tools that enable the regeneration or reconstruction of complex tissues and organs.
The new proposed technology, dubbed the Regenerative Bioelectronic System (REBIOS), combines a regenerative, antibacterial hydrogel with a wireless electrotherapy device that provides continuous monitoring and delivers stimulation on-demand. Both components have been validated separately in previous proof-of-concept studies, and the researchers expect that combining them into a single, simple-to-use system will have a synergistic effect in promoting healing and preventing infections from skin injuries.
The research team features four Northwestern faculty investigators, all affiliated with QSI RENU. Co-principal investigator Guillermo Ameer, director of QSI RENU and the Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery, will lead the development and integration of the antibacterial pro-regenerative hydrogel. Jonathan Rivnay, co-principal investigator on the project and the Jerome B. Cohen Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, will oversee the sensor development and project coordination. Co-principal investigator John Rogers, director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics and the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery, will design the actuator for the bioelectronic device.
This effort is sponsored by the US Government under Other Transaction Number W81XWH-15-9-0001. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the author and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the US Government.