Wound

It's a sad fact that burn victims often feel a great deal of pain when the dressings on their wounds are removed. A new hydrogel-based dressing could change that, however, as it easily releases from the skin when cooled.

Most wound dressings simply cover the injury and perhaps also kill harmful bacteria. The PAINT system goes much further, as it incorporates a pen that could one day allow doctors to paint a gelatinous healing ink right into wounds.

Researchers have confirmed what Indigenous Australians already knew: native plants have great healing properties. Two plants have been found to heal wounds quickly and efficiently, paving the way for the use of more plant-based therapeutic treatments.

Starting with fibers taken from pig tissue, researchers developed dissolving sutures that can be loaded with molecular sensors or medication. The hope is that they could speed healing and/or alert doctors when something is wrong at a surgical site.

For some time now, it has been known that wounds with a zig-zag pattern heal faster than those which form a straight line. Scientists have now determined why this is so, and their findings could change the ways in which surgical incisions are made.

Indian scientists have developed a groundbreaking method to extract keratin and melanin from discarded hair, opening up possibilities for their use in wound dressings and sunscreens.

In diabetics, wounds tend to progress quickly and heal slowly. Researchers have used electricity to heal diabetic wounds three times faster, which offers great potential for treating those with diseases that lead to reduced wound healing.

MIT scientists have developed a synthetic system that can stem internal bleeding, to help save lives after a traumatic injury. Two components come together at a wound to form a clot, without doing so elsewhere in the body where it might be dangerous.

It's ironic that in order to check if a wound is becoming infected, doctors may end up setting back the healing process by removing the dressing. An experimental new dressing is designed to help, as it changes color if an infection is occurring.

If left untreated, chronic wounds such as diabetic skin ulcers can become infected, ultimately leading to amputations or even death. A new "smart" bandage is designed to help keep that from happening, by both watching and treating such injuries.

The days of ripping off a Band-Aid could soon be in the past, with scientists creating a new affordable, flexible electronic covering that not only speeds and wirelessly monitors healing but is harmlessly absorbed into the body when its job is done.

It's always good if the use of antibiotics can be avoided, to keep harmful bacteria from developing a resistance to them. A new wound-treatment spray could help, as it kills bacteria using peptides that occur naturally in our bodies.