# Surgical drape with a releasable acrylic adhesive for atraumatic negative pressure wound therapy

> **NIH NIH R44** · GLOBAL BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC · 2024 · $1,216,704

## Abstract

Abstract –
Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is commonly used for the management of a broad spectrum of more
than 100 indications, including chronic wounds, acute open wounds, burns, and post operative care. An
estimated 6.5 million patients suffer from chronic wounds and an estimated 48 million inpatient surgeries are
performed each year in the US. NPWT involves covering a wound with an airtight dressing, sealed by
adhesive, and applying sub-atmospheric pressure. If the NPWT drape is not strongly adhered, maceration of
tissue surrounding the wound due to leaking exudate can increase the wound size and slow the healing,
eventually leading to the loss of the adherence of the drape to the skin. However, strong adhesives substantially
increase the chances for medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSI) during drape removal/changes.
NPWT patients are highly susceptible to this type of secondary trauma. For single use NPWT applications the
estimated MARSI incidence rate is between 1-10% whereas serial NPWT users experience MARSI >20% of the
time; however, an acceptable MARSI rate should be zero. Studies show that the type of drape used corelates
with the amount of acute pain during dressing changes and additional injury to the peri-wound tissue, which
can delay the wound healing process. Atraumatic dressings reduce patient pain and stress burden but
attempts to develop a product that adheres well yet is easily removed have fallen short. Addressing this
unmet need, Global Biomedical Technologies has developed an adhesive acrylic NPWT drape that
incorporates innovative ester oligomers that release from the skin via the application of isopropyl alcohol. The
underlying technology is a pressure sensitive bioengineered medical adhesive made with oligo (glycerol
sebacate) and polyacrylate. This painless adhesive technology, “Comfort Release®,” has been demonstrated
to result in high patient satisfaction and decreased nursing time in bandage and tape applications. This
project will validate the superior functionality and acceptability of Comfort Release® NPWT drapes against
the state-of-the art (V.A.C. drape by KCI Technologies, Inc.) in both single-use and serial-use NPWT applications.
Specific Aims of this Direct-to-Phase II are as follows: 1) Compare performance of Comfort Release® drapes
with V.A.C. drapes in single-use NPWT applications in a randomized controlled trial. Post-surgical patients
(n=200) will be enrolled at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center. 2) Compare
performance of Comfort Release® drapes with V.A.C. drapes in serial-use NPWT applications in a randomized
controlled trial. Chronic wound patients (n=100) will be enrolled at Weil Cornell Medical Center where they will
undergo 3 NPWT drape changes per week. At each dressing change and on final dressing removal,
qualitative data will be collected from clinicians participating in each aim to assess clinician acceptability of the
Comfort Release® drape. Succe...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10920025
- **Project number:** 1R44EB036280-01
- **Recipient organization:** GLOBAL BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Howard Rosing
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,216,704
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-13 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10920025

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10920025, Surgical drape with a releasable acrylic adhesive for atraumatic negative pressure wound therapy (1R44EB036280-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10920025. Licensed CC0.

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