Current producing surface

Current-generating surface

In a specific aspect, an article includes a major surface and a pattern with spaced apart dissimilar materials on the major surface. When the pattern is in contact with a conductive solution, it will automatically generate an electric surface current.

Background of the invention

Bandages and wound dressing supplies are very simple and familiar items. In order to speed up the wound healing process or reduce the risk of infection, there have been many recent efforts to re-pattern (or redefine) bandages. Few people can enjoy the benefits of certain new bandages because they are too complicated or too expensive.

In the art of treating wounds, the most important advances are usually improved methods to reduce infection or stimulate cell repair. What you should know now is that wet wounds will heal faster. Compared with dry wounds, it is less likely to leave scars. Therefore, traditionally using bandages to keep the wound moist and protect it is correct. It should also be known that silver is an antimicrobial agent, so there are many products that deliver silver to wounds, such as Smith &amp; Nephew^S^MACTICOAT 7^T^M, Johnson &amp; Johnson<img file="TW200529892A_D0001.tif" />ACTISORB^T^M, And Bristol-Meyers Squibb^S^MHYDROFIBER<img file="TW200529892A_D0002.tif" />. It is easy to cover a wound, and there are many products that can meet this demand. However, there are many difficulties in transporting silver to the wound, because silver is a metal. Some methods resort to the use of silver crystals, which have a large relative surface area. Colloidal silver, silver salts (such as silver nitrate), and silver compounds (such as silver sulfadiazine) are used to make creams and ointments. Creams and ointments are very common in the field of medicine because they are easy to use and familiar.

Some devices rely on external power sources or direct reactions between silver and another material to produce silver ions. Unfortunately, these devices may require expensive manufacturing processes, and the devices themselves are complex and bulky.

Summary of the invention

In a specific aspect, an article includes a major surface and a pattern with spaced apart dissimilar materials on the major surface. When the pattern is in contact with a conductive solution, it will automatically generate an electric surface current.

Detailed description of the invention

The detailed description of the specific aspects of the present invention can be divided into two parts. The first part will teach how to make a better and replaceable specific form. The second part is to explore theories that can explain why specific aspects of the present invention can achieve beneficial results, but to make, use, or benefit from other specific aspects of the present invention, it is not necessary to understand these theories. In the theory put forward in the second part, any imprecision or over-simplification should not reduce the scope of patent application. The scope of patent application should focus on specific aspects rather than theory.

A preferred specific aspect includes a bandage, which is more generally a wound dressing article, but the method for manufacturing a wound dressing article according to a specific aspect of the present invention, based on the description in the specification, can be It is similarly applied to virtually any medical device that comes into contact with the electrolyte of the body, which is obvious to those familiar with the technology. In fact, the specific aspect of the present invention can be used on virtually any non-conductive surface that may come into contact with the electrolytic solution. The purpose of using the specific aspect of the present invention is to reduce infection and pollution, but there will still be additional benefits for wound care, which is an added value. These benefits will be described in the second part.

More than 200 years ago, in 1800, Alessandro Volta assembled the first modern battery. He sandwiched a piece of paper soaked in salt water between a zinc disc and a silver disc, and used a potential difference, or voltage, to electrically shock it (electrically shocked), which was created by his assembly. Volta's electrochemical cell produces electric current due to the factors of automatic redox reaction. In order to respect him, this electrochemical cell is called a voltaic cell, but it can also be called a galvanic cell. In the case of silver and zinc, electrons are converted from zinc metal to silver ions. The oxidation half-reaction of zinc metal results in the loss of two electrons, and zinc ions are produced, while the reduction half-reaction of silver ions results in the gain of one electron, and silver metal is produced. The zinc electrode system is the anode (negative sign) and the silver electrode system is the cathode (positive sign) because electrons flow from zinc to silver. The flow of the ions generates an electric current, so that the silver and zinc cannot be directly contacted together, or it may cause a direct reaction that does not generate an electric current. An electrolyte, such as table salt, dissolves in water to provide a conductive solution that bridges the trench between two dissimilar metals, so that it is caused by a spontaneous reaction between the physically separated metals.Up current.

The dissimilar metals used to make the specific aspect of the present invention (wound dressing products) are silver and zinc, and the electrolytic solution includes sodium chloride in water. In some specific aspects of the present invention, a unique aspect is that the electrode is painted or printed on a non-conductive surface to produce a pattern of voltaic cells, preferably an array of voltaic cells, It will not react spontaneously until it comes into contact with an electrolytic solution, such as wound fluid. In the rest of this manual, the term "print with ink" will be used, but it should be understood that the specific aspect may use "paint with paint". It is also important to know that a satisfactory printer will know how to apply and cure the ink properly without any help, except perhaps in the ink mixture used to make the ink (which will be used in the printing process). In addition to the teaching of adhesives.

In FIG. 1, the electrode is printed on the desired main surface 2 of an article 4. The main surface is in a better specific form, that is, the surface of the wound dressing product, that is, the surface that will directly contact the wound. Wound dressing supplies. In another specific aspect of the present invention, the main surface should be an antimicrobial surface, such as medical equipment, implants, surgical gowns, gloves, socks, tables, doorknobs, or others that will interact with electrolytic solutions ( Including sweat) contact surface, so that at least part of the pattern of the voltaic cell will spontaneously react and kill bacteria or other microorganisms.

In a specific aspect, the printed electrode will adhere or adhere to the main surface 2 because a biocompatible adhesive and each dissimilar metal are mixed with each other to form individual mixtures, which will Will create a pattern of a voltaic battery. Most inks are adhesives mixed with pigments. Similarly, the metallic ink is an adhesive mixed with conductive elements. In a specific aspect, the final metallic ink can be used with an application method, such as screen printing, to coat the electrode on the major surface in a better pattern. Once the ink is dried and/or cured, the pattern of spacer electrodes will essentially maintain its relative position, even on flexible materials such as cloth. In order to make some wound dressing articles of a specific aspect of the present invention, the mixture can be hand-printed onto a common adhesive bandage, so that there will be an array of alternating electrodes on the main surface of the bandage with approximately one millimeter As an interval. The paint should be allowed to dry before being applied to the wound so that the zinc ink will not mix with the silver ink (mixing will destroy the array and cause a direct reaction that will release the element), but it cannot imitate the wound This will be explained below.

The adhesive can include any biocompatible liquid material, that is, a liquid material mixed with conductive elements (preferably silver or zinc metal crystals), so as to create a coating that can be used as a coating. A thin coating of ink on the surface. A suitable adhesive system is a solvent-reducible polymer, such as the non-toxic silk-screen ink of polyacrylic acid manufactured by Colorcon, Inc., which is Berwind Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (see Coloron's No-Tox<img file="TW200529892A_D0003.tif" />Product line, part number NT28) department. In a specific aspect, the adhesive is mixed with metal silver crystals of high purity (at least 99.999% in a specific aspect) to produce silver ink. The size of the silver crystals (which can be powdered by grinding the silver) is preferably less than 100 microns, or as fine as flour. In a specific aspect, the average size of the crystals is about 325 meshes, which is typically about 40 microns in size, or smaller. In a specific aspect, the adhesive is mixed with high-purity (at least 99.999% in a specific aspect) metal zinc powder (it is preferably screened with a standard 325 mesh) to manufacture Zinc ink. For better quality control or more consistent results, most of the crystals used can be larger than 325 mesh and smaller than 200 mesh. Other metal powders can be used to produce other metal inks in the same manner as previously described in other specific aspects.

The ratio of metal to binder affects the rate at which the metal is released from the mixture. When Coloron's polyacrylic ink is used as an adhesive, about 10 to 40 percent of the mixture can be applied to the metal of a longer-life bandage (a bandage that stays for about 10 days). If the same adhesive is used, but the proportion of the mixture (which is metal) is increased to 60 percent or higher, the release rate may be faster, and a typical bandage may only be effective for a few days. It should be noted that if the polyacrylic acid ink is applied to a very thin coating, it will tend to crack because it exposes more metal crystals and will spontaneously react. For another purpose, such as on a piece of cloth, it may be desirable to reduce the metal ratio to 5 percent or less, or to use an adhesive to make the crystals embedded more deeply, so that the main surface can be The anti-microbial effect lasts for a very long period of time, and it will not break prematurely. Other adhesives can dissolve or refine faster or slower than polyacrylic inks, so that adjustments can be made to achieve the desired rate of spontaneous reaction caused by the voltaic battery.

Among the various specific aspects, when a single agglomerated silver ink is separated from a single agglomerated zinc ink, when an electrolytic solution connects the two agglomerates, a single voltaic is produced. Battery. If a single mass of silver ink is separated from two masses of zinc ink, two voltaic cells will be produced, and so on. In order to maximize the number of voltaic batteries, alternating patterns of silver ink masses and zinc ink masses among various specific aspects may generate an array of currents across the main surface. According to a specific aspect of the present invention, as shown in Figure 1, a very basic pattern in which the silver ink of each agglomerate is equally spaced from the zinc ink of the four agglomerates, and the The zinc ink is equidistantly spaced from the four agglomerated silver inks. The first pattern 6 is separated from the second pattern 10 by a spacer 8. In a specific aspect of the present invention, the pattern is a repetition of simple dots. Many repeats 12 of the pattern create a pattern. In a specific aspect, as far as wound dressing products are concerned, each silver ink pattern is preferably about twice as large as each zinc ink pattern. As far as the pattern in Figure 1 is concerned, the silver ink pattern is approximately one millimeter away from each of the four closest zinc ink patterns, and vice versa. When dissimilar metal agglomerates, the final pattern is introduced into an electrolytic solution, which defines an array of voltaic cells.

When printing on a flexible material, such as those used for wound dressings, it is preferably a dot pattern of ink masses, such as the alternating dots in Figure 1, because the dots will not significantly affect The flexibility of the material. The pattern in Figure 1 is very suitable for general use. In order to maximize the current density on the main surface, the pattern of FIG. 2 is preferred. The first pattern 6 in FIG. 2 is a large hexagonal dot, and the second pattern 10 is a pair of smaller hexagonal dots, which are separated from each other. The spacer 8 between the first pattern and the second pattern maintains a fairly uniform distance between the adjacent edges of the pattern. Many repetitions 12 of the pattern will produce Fig. 14, which can be described as: at least one first pattern is surrounded by six hexagonal shaped points of the second pattern. The pattern in Figure 2 is very suitable for abrasion and combustion. Of course, these are other patterns that can be printed to achieve substantially the same result.

Figures 3 and 4 show how the pattern of Figure 2 can be used to make an adhesive bandage. The pattern shown in detail in Figure 2 is printed on the main surface 2 of a wound dressing material. The back 20 of the printed dressing material is secured to a layer 22 of absorbable cloth, such as cotton. The absorbable cloth layer is fixed to an elastic adhesive layer 16 in an adhesive manner, so that at least an overlapping portion 18 of the elastic adhesive layer can be used to secure the wound dressing to the wound.

Figure 5 shows an additional feature that can be added between the patterns to create a poor current flow in the dielectric solution. By using one of the metallic inks, a thin line 24 is printed along the current path of each voltaic battery. The thin wire will initially have a direct response, but will decrease until the distance between the electrodes is increased to produce the maximum voltage. This initially generated current tends to help control edema, making the wound dressing effective. When the wound dressing product is first used, if the electrolytic solution is highly conductive, the thin thread will be used up quickly, and the wound dressing product will work as if the thin thread never existed.

Figures 6 and 7 show another pattern for patterning at least one line. The first pattern 6 in FIG. 6 is a dot, which is similar to the first pattern used in FIG. 1. The second pattern in Figure 6 is a line. When the pattern is repeated, it will define a pattern of parallel lines, which are separated by many spaced points. Figure 7 uses a line-only pattern. The pattern of Figure 7 is very suitable for cuts, especially when the line is perpendicular to the cut. If the redox reaction requires more metal from the first conductive element (mixed into the first pattern ink) than the second conductive element (mixed into the second pattern ink), the first pattern 6 can be more than The second pattern 10 is thicker or wider. The thread can be crushed. Another pattern may be grid lines of silver ink, with zinc ink in the center of each grid grid. The pattern can even be letters printed from alternating inks, so that the message can be printed on the main surface, perhaps the name of the brand.

There are many possible creative choices for patterns, but some patterns have a combination of specific inks, which will work better. In a specific aspect, since the spontaneous oxidation-reduction reaction of silver and zinc uses approximately two silver and one zinc, the silver ink pattern may contain approximately twice the zinc ink pattern. Approximately between the closest dissimilar metals (closest edge to closest edge), on a spacer of approximately 1 mm, each voltaic cell (in the wound fluid) creates approximately 1 Ford Electric potential, which will penetrate through the dermis and epidermis. Points closer to the interval will lower its resistance and provide less potential energy, and the current cannot penetrate deeper. If the spacer falls down by about one-tenth of a millimeter, the achievable benefit of the spontaneous reaction is that it appears as a direct reaction of silver, which is electrically introduced into the wound, but the injury current It may not be imitated.

The rest of this specification is the second part, focusing on the basic theory of why the specific aspect of the present invention can promote wound healing. By directly suppressing local microorganisms, silver metal is introduced onto the wound surface and/or into the area of the damaged tissue to promote healing, which normally colonizes the wound. Bacterial pathogens generally include gram-positive cocci, such as Staphylococcus aureus and group A streptococci; and gram-negative bacilli , Such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Proteus spp. The electrochemical nature of silver is that it is positively charged, so it can bond to the negatively charged amino acids methionine (amino acids methionine) and the sulfur part of cysteine (cystenie). The amine The acid methionine and cysteine constitute important structural and enzymatic proteins used by bacterial cells.

It has been proven that the introduction of silver into the wound is effective. In addition, according to the specific aspect of the present invention, since the induced current is shown to attract microorganisms to the surface of the bandage in an electrochemical manner, many killed microorganisms will be removed by the bandage and will not accumulate in the wound. Among them, there is no need to involve and remove the killing effect by macrophages in the natural but slower wound healing method. Without removing the dead bacterial cells from the area adjacent to the wound, it is also important to separate the toxic enzymes and chemicals from the dead and degrading bacteria. This is considered to be a specific aspect of the present invention. Alleviated by the application of the state. Bacteria and other microorganisms are specifically drawn to the cathode (silver in the preferred embodiment) by their overall negative charge along the created gradient. Since all microorganisms have a net negative charge, they will die when they come into contact with silver.

For combining with silver to create the specific aspect of the voltaic battery of the present invention, the best material is zinc. Zinc has been described in detail for its use in such topical antibacterial agents to prevent infection, such as zinc bacitracin and zinc salts of bacitracin. Zinc is a divalent cation, which has antibacterial properties and also has the advantage of being a protein cofactor of the metalloprotease family of enzymes. This is useful for phogocytic debridement and reconstruction of wound healing. very important. As a co-factor, zinc promotes and accelerates the functional activity of these enzymes, and makes wound healing better and more efficient.

In a wound, the lack of a positively charged epithelium-negatively charged dermis combination (healthy tissue observed under normal circumstances) will result in a lack of the potential difference that naturally occurs across the body's surface. The specific aspect of the silver-zinc voltaic battery of the present invention recreates the injured physiological current, which is very important for inducing neutrophils, macrophages, and fibroblasts (important for the healing process) important. In addition, the imitated injury current will imitate the local nerve endings to promote wound resolution.

The voltage that appears on the wound mark is traditionally millivolts, but the specific aspect of the present invention is that when dissimilar metals are used at intervals of 1 mm (as described), a higher voltage can be introduced, close to 1 volt. . It is believed that higher voltage can bring the current deeper into the wound bed, so that the dermis and epidermis have the benefits of imitating the wound current. In this method, the current not only introduces some silver and zinc into the wound to kill microorganisms, but also provides a stimulation current for the injury, so that the entire wound surface area can be healed at the same time (in a specific state). middle). Without the specific aspect of the wound dressing article of the present invention, the wound current can naturally only exist in the adjacent area of the wound, which falls in the undamaged skin of about 0.5 mm. This is why the wound is closed from the edge. The benefit of using the imitated injury current to cover the entire wound, according to various specific aspects, is that the volume of the repaired skin will increase significantly at the same time.

A further benefit of making electric current wound dressings is that it is medically known that the wound will heal quickly if it is kept moist and clean. Without drying the wound surface, edema should be minimized. The humidity balance of the wound should be such that the damaged area maintains conductivity without producing areas with high electrical resistance, hindering the transmission of the imitated injury current and penetrating into the tissue. Any kind of excessive humidity and expansion will create an ideal environment for the growth of bacteria and microorganisms. Excessive humidity that causes the damaged tissue to swell is best absorbed into cotton or other absorbent cloth materials and drawn from the wound, so that the excess moisture can be removed from the wound surface without promoting the damaged tissue The dryness.

Finally, it is better to control the release rate of dissimilar metals of the electric current (used to manufacture various specific types of wound dressing products) for two opposite reasons. In a specific aspect, if the dissimilar metals are kept separated by a predetermined distance, the voltaic battery of the wound dressing product will drive the imitated injury current into the deeper part of the wound, causing the silver to freely mix into the wound In the fluid, this system is undesirable, it will quickly cause the suppression of the electrochemical gradient, and therefore the desired voltaic effect will disappear. On the other hand, if a predetermined amount of silver is mixed into the wound, silver will help prevent wound infection. (Please note that the spontaneous reaction of the voltaic battery will release elements into the wound, even though the most desired method of killing microorganisms is at the cathode, as previously described).

Because what we hope is that it has both the wounding current of silver and the anti-microbial effect, so we can compromise on this. To achieve a balanced state, the adhesive should release silver and zinc into the wound while maintaining the imitated injury current. During the entire process, the bandage will tend to stay on the wound. Wound dressings that should be changed frequently can have a shorter lifespan, just like dressings that produce electric current, so that the release rate of the adhesive can be faster. Wound dressings that tend to stay on the wound for an extended period of time, such as 10 days, should have an adhesive that does not dissolve or rapidly thins, or the ratio of the adhesive to metal crystals should be higher. Among various specific aspects, this can be controlled by cleverly choosing different mixture ratios and/or adhesive materials with longer or shorter half-lives or absorption rates.

Although this specification has described and described the specific aspects of the present invention, it should be understood that changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the following patent applications. For example, what we hope is to use a method instead of a general screen printing machine to print the electrode of the present invention on the surface of the antimicrobial medical equipment, clothing, graft, and the like. It should be expected that other methods of applying the paint or ink can be substituted as appropriate. Similarly, the voltaic battery has many shapes, sizes, and patterns, which have been described, but it should be expected that this teaching will enable those who practice this technology to incorporate their own design, which will be in It is then painted or printed on a surface to create a voltaic cell, which becomes active when it comes in contact with an electrolytic solution.

<p>The component symbols in various patterns are as follows:</p><p>2. . . Main surface</p><p>3. . . cross section</p><p>4. . . thing</p><p>6. . . First pattern</p><p>8. . . interval</p><p>10. . . Second pattern</p><p>12. . . Duplicate</p><p>14. . . pattern</p><p>16. . . Elastic adhesive layer</p><p>18. . . Overlap</p><p>20. . . Print the back of the dressing material</p><p>twenty two. . . Absorbent cloth layer</p><p>twenty four. . . Thin line</p>

Figure 1 is a detailed plan view of a very basic and specific aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detailed plan view of a pattern of a printed conductor according to a specific aspect of the present invention.

Figure 3 is an adhesive bandage using the printed pattern in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross-section of Figure 3 across line segment 3-3.

Fig. 5 is a detailed plan view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention, which includes fine lines of metallic ink connecting electrodes.

Fig. 6 is a detailed plan view of another alternative embodiment of the present invention, which has a linear pattern and a dot pattern.

Fig. 7 is a detailed plan view of another alternative embodiment of the present invention, which has two linear patterns.