(224c) Personalizing Wound Dressings Via 3D Printing for the Treatment of Thermal Burns

Burns are a common injury sustained worldwide, with an estimated 180,000 deaths caused annually according to the World Health Organization. Depending on the depth and area, burns can range from a trivial injury that heals in a few days to life-threatening wounds that is further complicated by the risk of bacterial infections, which may result in issues such as debilitating scarring upon recovery if not treated properly. While skin grafting remains the gold standard for the treatment of burn wounds and exist as various forms (eg: autologous skin grafting, allogenic skin grafting and cultured epithelial autografts), there is still a need for wound dressings to either complement skin grafting or to serve as an alternative in situations whereby skin grafting is not feasible. With the rise of 3D printing in recent times comes the possibility of personalized medicine that tailors drug dosages according to the patient’s needs. Thus, the aim of our study is to incorporate this concept into wound dressings. Using a 3D printer with multiple printheads, we have fabricated hydrogel wound dressings with various shapes, sizes, architectures and designs through the subsequent deposition of different drug-hydrogel formulations and have observed how they affect the cumulative release profile of drugs embedded inside the dressing. This is beneficial as the dressing design can be tailored to accommodate the patient’s condition and it allows for decentralized production that can be controlled by the physician to match their diagnosis.