from the one-hundred-bacteria-walk-into-a-bar(of-soap) dept.
Researches at the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering recently published a paper in the Annals of Surgery on the development of a wireless electroceutical dressing (WED) that uses an electric field to disrupt bacterial biofilms.
Bacterial biofilms are thin, slimy films of bacteria that form on some wounds, including burns or post-surgical infections, as well as after a medical device, such as a catheter, is placed in the body. These bacteria generate their own electricity, using their own electric fields to communicate and form the biofilm, which makes them more hostile and difficult to treat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 65 percent of all infections are caused by bacteria with this biofilm phenotype, while the National Institutes of Health estimates that number is closer to 80 percent.
The research demonstrated disruption of 'biofilm aggregates', 'accelerated functional wound closure', and blunting of a variety of bacterial processes.
The dressing electrochemically self-generates 1 volt of electricity upon contact with body fluids such as wound fluid or blood, which is not enough to hurt or electrocute the patient.
This type of treatment does not interfere with traditional antibacterial tactics and shows increased effectiveness when used in combination with them. The electroceutical material also has potential application in surgery and hospital fabrics.
Marketing for the dressing for burn care was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Journal Reference:
Kasturi Ganesh Barki, et. al. Electric Field Based Dressing Disrupts Mixed-Species Bacterial Biofilm Infection and Restores Functional Wound Healing. Annals of Surgery, 2019; 269 (4): 756 DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002504
Previous coverage of biofilm disruption using ionic liquids
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Like a protective tent over a colony of harmful bacteria, biofilms make the treatment of skin infections especially difficult. Microorganisms protected in a biofilm pose a significant health risk due to their antibiotic resistance and recalcitrance to treatment, and biofilm-protected bacteria account for some 80 percent of total bacterial infections in humans and are 50 to 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotics than simpler bacterial infections.
"In essence, we may have stumbled onto a magic bullet," said David Fox, a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher on the project. "Through a robust screening strategy, our research team has identified a unique class of materials (Abstract), known as ionic liquids, which both neutralize biofilm-forming pathogens and deliver drugs through the skin," he said.
"We extended our current capability in antimicrobial platforms with ionic liquids to new heights by partnering with Dr. Mitragotri at UCSB, who is an expert in transdermal drug delivery platforms. The merger made perfect sense," stated Fox.
"In several cases, we found the ionic liquid was more efficacious on a biofilm than a standard bleach treatment and exhibited minimal cytotoxic effects on human cell lines (unlike bleach). This has excellent prospects for aiding antibiotic delivery to the pathogen through biofilm disruption but, most interestingly, the ionic liquids themselves are quite effective for pathogen neutralization," Fox said.
This work could have especially useful applications for military medical treatments, he noted, where soldiers in the field can be exposed to bacterial infections that are particularly difficult to treat.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @08:42PM
"This type of treatment does not interfere with traditional antibacterial tactics and shows increased effectiveness when used in combination with them"
i feel slimey now...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @09:02PM (1 child)
An aged relative broke her wrist, very common, https://www.physio-pedia.com/Colles_Fracture [physio-pedia.com]
The fix was to screw in a plate to keep the bones aligned while they knit, and then leave the plate in. Talking to the hand surgeon, there isn't any way to use a classic external cast for this fracture, the end of the radius bone is too close to spherical for an external cast to keep that piece of bone aligned properly.
With better bacteria control, perhaps a new kind of "cast" could be external, with built-in support for stiff wires poked into the bone pieces to keep them aligned. The wires or rods (with threaded ends) could be removed after the bone knits -- no plate inside waiting to cause trouble later, and much smaller incisions required to place the stiff wires.
I spoke to the hand surgeon about this and he was quite happy with the plate technique, pointing out that anything piercing the skin was a major source of infection. But I saw how long it took for the painful incisions to heal and it seemed like there should be a better way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 20 2019, @01:08AM
Use copper, silver, gold, etc from that same column of the table.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 19 2019, @10:19PM
You're wanted in the ElectroMedical ward.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 20 2019, @05:00AM
Did we just figure out how to deal with RDT and EF?