Feb 7 2011
The United States Army Medical Research and Material Command, through the support of the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research Grant Program (SBIR), has awarded iFyber a Phase I grant. The award funds research related to controlled release of nitric oxide for wound healing.
Aaron Strickland, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development and co-founder of iFyber, is the principal investigator on this effort and will guide the collaborative work with industry and university partners. The SBIR project involves a collaboration between iFyber and Professor C.C. Chu, an internationally recognized biomaterials researcher at the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, as well as other researchers at the University of Buffalo.
The process of wound healing, particularly in diabetics and immunologically compromised patients, can be both difficult and protracted. The financial cost along with the loss of productivity associated with impaired healing processes could be significantly curtailed if innovative, cost-effective technologies could be developed.
“iFyber is leveraging its knowledge of surface chemistry and materials science by initiating collaborations in scientific fields which alone may be limited, but together can be very powerful in industry,” said Dr. Strickland. Eric Eisenhut, President of iFyber, further noted, “Receiving this award through the competitive SBIR process has provided us with resources to further validate our technology as it relates to our focus on functional coatings for wound care materials.”
iFyber, LLC is a materials science company advancing coating technologies used to functionalize natural and synthetic fibers in the industrial, medical, military and consumer markets. iFyber’s technology enables the deposition of conformal, nanoparticle coatings on both flat and curved surfaces using a unique layer-by-layer assembly process. The process provides for the ability to control particle size and inter-particle spacing which in turn allows iFyber to impart a remarkable array of custom properties to treated fibrous materials. Custom properties include electrical conductivity, self-cleaning, anti-microbial action, and authentication technology