The Need

Wound healing and disinfection of chronic wounds still pose significant challenges in the medical industry. Current treatments remain inadequate as they present health and life-quality challenges for patients and have high cumulative costs. After the formation of an open wound, adequate cleaning and dressing are paramount to preventing infection. Despite painstaking attempts to keep wounds uncontaminated, microorganisms still colonize wounds after bandaging/ dressing. Chronic wounds have a much higher incidence of bacterial biofilms and co-morbidities due to peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, and other related causes. These biofilms allow bacteria to become 10 to 1,000 times more resistant to antibiotic medications compared to non-film bacteria. An NIH study indicates that bacterial biofilms account for over 2 million cases of infections reported in the U.S., leading to $5 billion in added medical costs annually for human patients, with estimates of an additional $1 billion in costs for veterinary populations

The Technology

Dr. Shaurya Prakash and his colleagues at The Ohio State University developed electroceutical dressings that use direct current to prevent biofilm formation, with promising bactericidal effects. The technology comprises electrodes and a flexible and lightweight supporting circuit. It provides reliable antimicrobial performance applying electrical current to a treatment area. The circuit is protected by adhesives and padding, with power delivery by a battery pack isolated from fluids. The electroceutical dressings have been shown to disinfect and heal chronic injury while being safe for use in human (in a trial of 8 patients) and non-human animals. For the latter, application led to the healing of two chronic wounds (that had not healed for a up to a year or more) in a dog and a cat, and ultimate resolution of the open wounds and associated persistent infection. The latest version has new features for better electrochemistry control and modular design options for adding sensors that provide real-time tracking of wound healing and infection mitigation via cell phone app monitoring. The result is an engineered Smart Platform for Engineered Electroceutical Dressings (SPEEDs), which shows dramatic improvement in antimicrobial activity and positive wound healing outcomes

Commercial Applications

• Biofilm infection treatment and prevention
• Burn wound dressings
• Wound healing
• Diabetic neuropathy and neuroischemic foot ulcer

Benefits/Advantages

• Improved healing time
• Applicable to chronic wounds
• Antibiotic properties

Patent Filing(s)

U.S. Appl. 16/343,214; PCT/US2021/026414.

Research Interests

Shaurya Prakash, Associate Professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. His research interests include: nanofluidics and microfluidics, instrument development for healthcare, water purification, bio-inspired micro-and nanosystems, and fundamental studies on fluid and mass transport at the micro- and nanoscale.

Publications

Veterinary Surgery. 2022 Jan 7. doi: 10.1111/vsu.13758. Online ahead of print. Electroceutical treatment of infected chronic wounds in a dog and a cat.

Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems. 2020 Oct;29(5):918-923. doi: 10.1109/jmems.2020.2999260. Epub 2020 Jun 10. Printed Electroceutical Dressings for the Inhibition of Biofilms and Treatment of Chronic Wounds.

Scientific Reports. 2020 Jun 18;10(1):9879. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66823-y. Ultrastructure imaging of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lawn biofilms and eradication of the tobramycin-resistant variants under in vitro electroceutical treatment

Advances in Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2019 Apr 1;8(4):149-159. doi: 10.1089/wound.2018.0915. Epub 2019 Apr 3. Disposable Patterned Electroceutical Dressing (PED-10) Is Safe for Treatment of Open Clinical Chronic Wounds.

Scientific Reports. 2019 Feb 14;9(1):2008. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37891-y. Electroceutical Treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms.