New Atlas

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Wound dressing uses electricity to bust up antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

Rich Haridy May 20, 2019

An incredible study has demonstrated the potential of a wound dressing that can fight bacterial infections using a weak electrical field. Offering a novel way to battle antibiotic-resistant infections, the dressing has been approved by the FDA and is currently being tested in human burn patients.

Scientists have developed a wound dressing that can generate a weak electrical field to break down ...

Medical Audio available

"Welded" stem cells may help heal wounds

Ben Coxworth April 23, 2019

For many years now, scientists have been seeking methods of helping to heal chronic wounds such as those suffered by diabetics. One of the latest possible techniques involves re-engineering the membranes of stem cells, so that those cells essentially get welded together.

An artist's impression of two mesenchymal stem cells being welded together

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3D bioprinter patches up wounds using a patient's own skin cells

Michael Irving February 28, 2019

To help patch up large wounds that might normally require a skin graft, researchers at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have developed a new bioprinter that can print dual layers of a patient’s own skin directly into a wound.

A close up view of the skin bioprinter nozzle developed by researchers at Wake Forest Institute ...

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Dynamic healing molecules change their tune along the road to recovery

Nick Lavars January 7, 2019

Scientists have come up with a molecule that can spur different cells into action throughout different stages of wound healing, enabling a new kind of dynamic technology that could be channeled into materials that respond to the task at hand.

Broken bones are just one example of an injury that could one day be treated using ...

Medical

App brings more consistency to monitoring of diabetic wounds

Ben Coxworth December 19, 2018

When McGill University's Dr. Sheila Wang was in medical school, she noticed that doctors simply used rulers to measure patients' diabetic skin ulcers. Figuring that there had to be a more precise, objective method of doing so, she went on to create the new Swift Skin and Wound app.

Drs. Sheila Wang and Greg Berry, with the Swift Skin and Wound app

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Light-sensitive adhesive may find use in ouch-less band-aids

Ben Coxworth December 17, 2018

We all know how painful ripping off a band-aid can be. It may not be so unpleasant in the not-too-distant future, however, as scientists have created an adhesive that detaches in the presence of ultraviolet light.

Two slabs of hydrogel, joined together using the adhesive, separate easily when exposed to ultraviolet light

Medical

Motion-powered electric bandage speeds healing by zapping wounds

Ben Coxworth November 30, 2018

For some time now, scientists have known that electrical currents can help heal chronic wounds. And while there are electrotherapy units that are in use, they can be quite bulky and complex. That's why researchers have created an "electric bandage" that's powered by the motion of the body.

Prof. Xudong Wang fits one of the bandages around the wrist of graduate student Yin Long

Medical

New healing hydrogel is full of holes

Ben Coxworth November 20, 2018

Although we've already heard about hydrogels that help to heal chronic wounds, the University of New Hampshire's Asst. Prof. Kyung Jae Jeong states that most of them aren't porous enough. An inexpensive micro-hole-filled gel made by his team, however, is claimed to perform much better.

An electron microscope image of the porous hydrogel

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Cell reprogramming converts open wounds into healthy skin

Nick Lavars September 5, 2018

Tapping into the machinery of a cell and rewiring it to take on another identity is an exciting capability that scientists are just beginning to explore. Now researchers at the Salk Institute report another groundbreaking advance, converting open wounds into healthy skin.

Salk Institute scientists converted one type of cell (seen in red) into basal keratinocytes (green), a ...

Medical

Natural blue clay may kill germs in wounds

Ben Coxworth August 23, 2018

For centuries, various cultures have used clay as a remedy for infections. Now, scientists from Arizona State University (ASU) and the Mayo Clinic have determined that blue clay in particular may indeed be effective at treating infected wounds.

The blue clay contains bacteria-killing iron and aluminum