Dear Readers,

Chronic wounds with a variety of etiologies represent a longstanding and major healthcare problem. Among these, diabetic ulcers are a growing and difficult medical challenge with more than 800,000 annual diagnoses in the United States alone.¹ Lack of an ideal treatment modality has wide ranging implications including quality of life (amputations to death) and economic issues.

The goal of regenerative medicine is to recapitulate in adult wounded tissue the intrinsic regenerative processes that are involved in normal adult tissue maintenance. Recent advances allow adult wounds to heal in a similar fashion to the regenerative healing that is also present during fetal development.

Smith & Nephew Purchases BlueSky Medical Group

Smith & Nephew (Largo, Fla) announces that its Advanced Wound Management business has agreed to purchase BlueSky Medical Group, Inc. (Carlsbad, Calif).

I welcome you to this special edition of WOUNDS focusing on the extracellular matrix (ECM). The topic of ECMs and their role in tissue and wound repair has become increasingly important as clinicians become more familiar with the use of modalities designed for difficult-to-heal wounds. The purpose of this particular edition is to introduce 3 more commonly used ECMs by allowing the scientists involved in their development and production to provide a scientific basis for their role in tissue repair and include any available clinical correlations.