Researcher Abhishek Gupta, from the School of Pharmacy at Wolverhampton University, developed the new, innovative dressings. According to Abhishek Gupta pharmacy would provide an alternative to conventional gauze, which could be particularly beneficial for patients who are immunocompromised, such as HIV patients, diabetics and the elderly.
They can be used for dry or exudative wounds as they can create a moist micro climate at the site of the wound which facilitates healing. Their hydro gel dressings are bio synthetic and ultra-pure. They are biologically degradable, as well as the additional healing properties, so are an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional dressings.
Chronic wounds impose an enormous socio-economic burden and may lead to amputation if they fail to respond to the medical interventions available. Although a plethora of proprietary wound dressing products is already available on the market, there is a critical need to continue developing enhanced advanced wound dressings due to the increase in the ageing population and incidences of chronic diseases.
Their development could have a positive effect on future use and disposal of wound dressings. The hydro gel wound dressings exhibited prolonged antimicrobial properties when loaded with a silver (silver zeolites), and can provide additional protection. For the hydro gel dressings, Abhishek used curcumin as a healing agent to achieve faster recovery of chronic wounds.
Curcumin is an active turmeric compound with potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. All of these properties are beneficial in helping chronic wound healing. Extensive testing has shown the bacteria-killing dressings, with no damage to blood cells and strong antioxidant properties. It is also thermally stable and does not lose its properties for sterilization purposes when autoclaved.
