Impact on Wound Biofilm Infection
TEMPE, Ariz., Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Vomaris Innovations, Inc. announced today breakthrough results of the first controlled, preclinical in vivo evidence on the anti-biofilm impact of the Company’s bioelectric antimicrobial technology. The study found that the technology can prevent and disrupt biofilm infection and restore functional wound healing. The manuscript, “Electric Field Based Dressing Disrupts Mixed-Species Bacterial Biofilm Infection and Restores Functional Wound Healing,” was published online in the Annals of Surgery. The research was led by Chandan Sen, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of the Comprehensive Wound Center at The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
Bacteria use electrical interactions to communicate with each other in a process called quorum sensing (QS), signaling them to adhere to a wound, multiply, and encase themselves within a protective structural substance known as a biofilm. This protective biofilm barrier impedes the body’s immune defense system and renders the bacteria highly resistant to antibiotics, making biofilm infections extremely difficult to treat.
Approximately 80% of infections in chronic and surgical wounds are thought to be caused by bacteria within biofilm.1,2Chronic wounds affect an estimated 6.5 million patients a year and over $25 billion is estimated to be spent annually on their treatment.3 Surgical site infections (SSIs) occur in 2% to 5% of all patients undergoing inpatient surgery and affect up to 300,000 patients a year in the U.S. alone. Annual costs of managing SSIs range from $3.5 billion to $10 billion … full press release