Silk fibroin aerogel particles for a wound healing treatment

Chronic wounds are one of the most debilitating complications significantly affecting patients’ life quality and constituting a huge burden for health care systems, representing approximately 3% of total healthcare expenditure in developed countries. These result in a challenge to wound care professionals, which need to implement patient-specific approaches based on a particular healing phase and its condition. During wound healing, exudate is produced as a natural response towards healing. However, an excessive production can be detrimental, representing a challenge for wound management. Aerogels can provide advanced performance for wound healing due to their high porosity and large surface area, which can be tailored for a fast and directional fluid transfer. They can also act as a carrier for bioactive compounds.2 Silk fibroin has good mechanical properties and supports well the human keratinocytes and fibroblast being used for the treatment of wounds.3 In this work, silk fibroin gel particles are developed for future controlled release of bioactive agents in an attempt to trigger the healing process in chronic wounds.