New Wound Dressing, Full of Antibiotics, Dissolves When Wound Has Healed

[Mosby]

ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2009) — Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically.

Prof. Meital Zilberman of TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new wound dressing based on fibers she engineered -- fibers that can be loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process, and then dissolve when they've done their job. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research -- Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria.

The new dressing protects the wound until it is no longer needed, after which it melts away. "We've developed the first wound dressing that both releases antibiotic drugs and biodegrades in a controlled manner," says Prof. Zilberman. "It solves current mechanical and physical limitations in wound-dressing techniques and gives physicians a new and more effective platform for treating burns and bedsores."

While the concept is simple, the technology is not. Skin, Prof. Zilberman explains, serves a number of vastly different purposes. "Wound dressings must maintain a certain level of moisture while acting as a shield," she says. "Like skin, they must also enable fluids from the wound to leave the infected tissue at a certain rate. It can't be too fast or too slow. If too fast, the wound will dry out and it won't heal properly. If too slow, there's a real risk of increased contamination."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117124015.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily:+Latest+Science+News%29

I don't know what's up with the link but it works.

[phantom power]

1. Heh. How long do they warranty it against bacterial evolution?

:evilgrin:

[Warpy]

2. This is really great news

Keeping large burns infection free is always a huge challenge and hospitals use things like donated placentas to cover the wounds as well as the sterile dressings which must be changed frequently and painfully until grafting can be done.

If this pans out, it's a huge breakthrough and might have other applications as well, such as healing diabetic ulcers.

The Bozo in the link is a nice touch, but yes, it does work.

[kestrel91316]

3. Honey/sugar dressings are also FABULOUS at killing wound bacteria.

But corporations can't patent honey or sugar for profit.

[trotsky]

4. However you can patent a delivery system like the one in the OP.

You can also isolate the active compounds in honey that fight bacteria, and make a product that's even more concentrated and effective.

Not everything is a big pharma conspiracy.

[kestrel91316]

5. It's the sugar itself that kills bacteria, it's to do with osmotic gradients.

The honey or sugar draws the water out of the poor little germs and they die.

[trotsky]

6. Nonetheless, the delivery system can be patented...

and it may be possible to improve upon the natural process. We figured out how to make acetylsalicylic acid from salicylic acid, and provide a much better delivery mechanism to the body.

[Celebration]

8. this works great

Make a paste out of betadine and sugar. Clean the wound and dress it every day with the paste. It kept me from needing a skin graft after a bad burn.

I have to say it "seemed" miraculous.

I had an elderly babysitter that had some sort of operation by a podiatrist and she was getting warm whirlpool bath treatments there almost every day because it wouldn't heal. I took her some betadine, and we mixed it with sugar and she was okay practically the next day.

[uppityperson]

7. That would be great if it worked. Love the clown smiley in the ilnk.