Technology Description:  ARS chemists have developed a cotton gauze dressing that may be useful for burn wound care.  The gauze contains natural chemicals that absorb moisture and still remain elastic.  The new burn wound dressing combines both the conforming stretch properties of cotton gauze with the moisture properties of other wound dressings. The dressing is specifically designed for burn wounds that occur on parts of the body where elasticity is required due to motion.  Currently, few dressings meet all the ideal burn wound dressing requirements, which are wound protection, non-adherence, optimal gas and moisture exchange, pathogen and microbial control, and optimal biochemical balance.  This dressing improves significantly on cotton-based wound dressing by providing a gel-type surface that doesn’t stick to the wound.  The cost of producing ARS’s dressing is significantly lower than other dressings.  The market for burn wound dressings is over one billion dollars.    Potential Commercial Uses:  This technology would prove beneficial to the medical field. Burn victims would benefit from this unique wound dressing.  Pharmaceutical companies and companies that manufacture biomedical devices could use this technology.   Reference:  Please refer to USPN 6,809,231 (Docket #0009.01), “Flexible and Absorbent Alginate Wound Dressing,” which issued on October 26, 2004.  Foreign rights are available.   Inventors: Judson V. Edwards   USDA-ARS-Cotton Textile Chemistry Research   New Orleans, LA 70179   Phone: (504) 286-4360      Fax: (504) 286-4271   vedwards@srrc.ars.usda.gov