StellarHeal: Wound Healing in Space and on Earth

StellarHeal tackles the unique challenges of wound healing in space, where weightlessness and radiation affect wound closure, putting astronauts’ health at risk. The solution includes a special silica gel padding, enriched with cryopreserved cells, and a protective gel. The silica gel is resistant to radiation and flexible enough to fit different wounds, with a coating that helps to stop bleeding quickly. The added cells – cryopreserved fibroblasts and macrophages – promote smooth healing and fight infection, making it perfect for space missions.

StellarHeal combines several advanced developments into a novel application. It aims to improve medical practice and the economics of wound care, and has significant potential for future applications both in space and on Earth. The consortium combines expertise in materials science, cryotechnology and biotechnology to develop, deploy and adapt the solution for various medical and biotechnological applications.

Benefits:

• Enables rapid and improved wound closure in microgravity to prevent wound infection
• Protects wounds from the adverse effects of radiation exposure
• Prevents severe wound scarring
• May address chronic wound healing for patients on Earth