Unmet Need
According to the WHO, excessive exposure to the sun can lead to cancer, cataracts, other eye diseases as well as visual ageing (WHO). The skin is the ultimate barrier that humans interface with the environment. Unfortunately, the environment we live in is becoming progressively more hostile to our health. Air pollutants (eg., ozone, particulate matters), solar radiation, viruses (eg., Variola), microbes (eg., Bacillus anthracis, Borrelia species) and certain disease transmission vectors (eg., mosquitos, ticks), and nuclear radiation are just a handful of noxious elements that threaten the health of humans. Despite this growing list, conventional skin protectants such as sunscreens and bug spray repellants have clear limitations. Upon application to the skin, the media evaporates, leaving behind a layer of non-connected, unbound compounds that can be washed, perspired, or rubbed off. This leads to potential absorption by the body, and/or release into the environment. In addition, these materials require periodic re-application for sustained protection. For public health and environmental reasons there is a dire need for a novel skin protective barrier platform that maintains versatile protection while remaining safe and does not require periodic re-application.
Technology Overview
Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a novel skin protective barrier platform that can be customized to block, trap, neutralize and/or delay the penetration of these elements to viable human skin. This technology involves a media that is composed of a film forming polymer matrix that is formed directly on the skin surface by chemical reaction of its constituents. The film does not wash off from the skin, yet is breathable, by virtue of its high oxygen and water vapor permeability.
This technology is versatile and can be generally extended to other applications for films that block portions of the visible light spectrum, chemicals, pollutants, viruses, microbes, and their transmission vectors from reaching the skin would be useful. Both “functionalized” and “non-functionalized” films can be used as physical barriers to these assailants. Appropriately “functionalized” films can be made via analogous chemical approaches, but directed against other agents. For example, films containing bound insect repellants, such as DEET, can be made to ward off insect bites. Binding the repellant molecules within the film structure will prevent their leaching into the body, and the environment, and will alleviate the need to reapplication, providing much needed benefits over the existing technology.
Stage of Development
Conceptual stage.
Publications
N/A
