Chronic wounds are a serious problem for millions of people, which result in a heavy financial burden on the healthcare system. These wounds heal very slowly or often don’t heal and get stuck in one of the stages of wound healing. The primary types of chronic wounds include diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers and pressure ulcers. Pain is one of the most common problems associated with chronic wounds and it significantly affects the quality of life of the patients. Poor circulation and neuropathy are the primary causes of these wounds and contributing factors include old age, and repeated trauma. Some of the methods of treatment include use of antibiotics, removal of dead tissues, irrigation, moist wound healing etc. A major problem in treating chronic wounds is protecting the wounds so that they don’t get infected. The primary methods of protecting a wound are covering it with bandages or wound dressings. Wound dressings have considerably improved over the years and dressings like duoderm and tegaderm have revolutionized wound care. However, chronic wounds are still a major problem to deal with. Prof. Amihay Freeman of Tel Aviv University’s department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology has developed a device to conveniently and cost-effectively keep chronic wounds clean and prevent infections. The device employs “continuous streaming therapy” and uses an enzyme based solution to continuously irrigate the wound and remove dead tissues. This technology could save a lot of human effort and money. Enzymes have long been used together with creams and ointments but don’t provide quicker relief and are cumbersome to apply. This device combines enzymes with a liquid stream, which produces far better results. The device works on the principle of negative pressure wound healing. The wound is sealed with a plastic cover and the enzyme solution flows under it and removes dead tissues. Traditional bandages may take a long time to produce any improvement in the condition of chronic wounds. Treatment with this device can show results within weeks. “Our basic idea is simple; we treat the wound by streaming a solution in a continuous manner. Traditional methods require wound scraping to remove necrotic tissue. That is expensive, painful and extremely uncomfortable to the patient. And while active ingredients applied with bandages on a wound may work for a couple of hours, after that the wound fights back. The bacteria build up again, creating a tedious and long battle,” said Prof. Freeman. “My solution helps doctors regain control of the chronic wound, making management more efficient, and vastly improving the quality of their patients’ lives.”
