Body & Mind

Nanomesh dressings may draw bacteria from chronic wounds

Nanomesh dressings may draw bacteria from chronic wounds
Bacteria such E. coli might prefer the nanofiber mesh over living tissue, moving into one from the other
Bacteria such E. coli might prefer the nanofiber mesh over living tissue, moving into one from the other
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Bacteria such E. coli might prefer the nanofiber mesh over living tissue, moving into one from the other
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Bacteria such E. coli might prefer the nanofiber mesh over living tissue, moving into one from the other
Lead scientist Martina Abrigo
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Lead scientist Martina Abrigo

We've previously heard about wound dressings that kill bacteria, but now researchers at Australia's Swinburne University of Technology are taking a different approach. They're creating a dressing material that attracts bacteria out from within the wound, so that the material and the microbes can then just be pulled off and discarded.

Led by PhD candidate Martina Abrigo, the Swinburne team started by electrospinning polystyrene fibers that were up to 100 times thinner than a human hair. Meshes of these were then placed over films of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that frequently infects wounds.

Lead scientist Martina Abrigo
Lead scientist Martina Abrigo

Because of the optimal growing conditions offered by the mesh, the bacteria quickly moved in and attached themselves to the fibers. This was particularly true when the fibers were approximately the same diameter as the individual bacterium – when they were smaller, less bacteria were attracted.

The researchers then tried coating the nanofibers with different compounds, and seeing how Escherichia coli bacteria reacted to them. It was found that when fibers of any size were coated with allylamine, the e. coli moved onto them rapidly.

In a third test conducted in partnership with the University of Sheffield, nanofiber meshes were tested on tissue-engineered skin models. Although the results have yet to published, they are reportedly promising, and indicate that similar results could be expected with living tissue.

"We hope this work will lead to smart wound dressings that could prevent infections," says Ambrigo. "Doctors could put a nanomesh dressing on a wound and simply peel it off to get rid of the germs."

A paper on the research was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Source: Swinburne University of Technology

3 comments
3 comments
Racqia Dvorak
Odd way to go. I'm personally more inclined toward utilizing bacteriophages.
mediabeing
Bladerdash and bladderflap! 'Drawing' bacteria? Oh come on! I hope I'm quite wrong on this matter.
maheanuu
I have been using colloidal silver solution here in French Polynesia to treat Staph Infections for my family and it kills Staph within 24 hours, Using Colloidal silver on a gauze pad on the wound and keeping the pad moist for a day seems to get all of the bugs destroyed. I have used it on the family and we have had healing times in just 2 or 3 days for really bad infections and hours for those who are not heavily infected. No one in my family goes to the Dr's for staph any longer as I make my own colloidal silver solution, I do NOT sell my solution, I simply give it away calling it an "Antiseptic Solution" so that I am not being hounded for 'Quackery, or Illegally promoting a fake medical product. I only use pure distilled water and 99.99 pure Silver wire in the making of my colloidal silver. Living in the Tropical South Pacific can be wonderful, but we do have things that can really do damage to our bodies and need to be careful especially as we age and our immune systems start to diminish in their abilities to control the attacks on health. If any of you have more ideas on things that might help an ageing population keep healthy please let me know what I need to do. I would very much appreciate the comments.