Electricity has played a vital role in transforming every facet of human life, and its potential in medical applications is no exception. ScienceDaily has reported on research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden and the University of Freiburg, Germany on “How electricity can heal wounds three times as fast”.
Many common diagnoses might make wound healing more difficult, including people with diabetes, spinal injuries, or poor blood circulation. Impaired wound healing ability creates a greater risk of infection and chronic wounds which can potentially lead to serious consequences such as amputation.
Maria Asplund, Associate Professor of Bioelectronics at Chalmers University of Technology and head of research on the project, says:
"We were able to show that the old hypothesis about electric stimulation can be used to make wounds heal significantly faster. In order to study exactly how this works for wounds, we developed a kind of biochip on which we cultured skin cells, which we then made tiny wounds in. Then we stimulated one wound with an electric field, which clearly led to it healing three times as fast as the wound that healed without electric stimulation…
"Our discovery of a method that may heal wounds up to three times faster can be a game changer for diabetic and elderly people, among others, who often suffer greatly from wounds that won't heal…
"We are now looking at how different skin cells interact during stimulation, to take a step closer to a realistic wound. We want to develop a concept to be able to 'scan' wounds and adapt the stimulation based on the individual wound. We are convinced that this is the key to effectively helping individuals with slow-healing wounds in the future," Asplund says.
More information: How electricity can heal wounds three times as fast | ScienceDaily
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