By Laura Arenschield, The Ohio State University featured on Medical XPress
Bandages infused with electricity can help heal wounds faster than typical bandages or antibiotics—but for years, researchers have not really understood why.
A recent study by a team at The Ohio State University is offering new clues about the science behind those bandages, and researchers say the findings could help lead to better wound treatment.
The bandages belong to a class of therapies called electroceuticals, which are devices that use electrical impulses to treat medical issues such as wounds.
The study, published online recently in the journal Scientific Reports by a research team at The Ohio State University, is the first of its kind to look at the ways electroceutical bandages kill bacteria around a wound, allowing wounds to heal faster. Electroceutical bandages have been used to treat wounds since at least 2013.
“The goal is to heal nonhealing or chronic wounds, and, if infection is present, to remove infection,” said Shaurya Prakash, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and co- author of the study. “And what we wanted to understand was the mechanism behind why these electroceutical treatments work to kill bacteria.”
Biofilms are small communities of microorganisms—including bacteria—that can live on the surface of the skin or a wound. The communities are held together by something called extracellular polymeric substances—EPS for short. The substances are generally made up of fats and proteins, and can create a protective barrier that keeps bacteria safe from traditional clinical treatment options, including antibiotics. That means that even with traditional antibiotic treatments, some skin infections can linger and prevent wounds from healing.
Read the Full Article from Medical XPress.
You can find more information about wound care in Shield HealthCare’s wound care community:
- Wet-to-Dry: Substandard Wound Care Webinar
- Biofilm: Why a Chronic Wound May Be Failing to Heal
- Video: Pressure Injury Staging Made Easy Recorded Webinar
- Video: Incontinence-Associated Dermatitis – Prevalence and Economic Impact
- How Wounds Heal: The 4 Main Phases of Wound Healing
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