Innovations And Emerging Technologies In Wound Care
For healthcare professionals, wound care management plays a significant part in their ability to provide a positive outcome for patients. There have been a lot of recent innovations in the area of wound care that help prevent bleeding extremely fast. This is a huge market as the global advanced wound care market is expected to exceed $14 billion by 2026. Therefore, not only will these advancements be extremely profitable for the companies providing these innovative solutions, but they will also save lives.
A solution inspired by barnacles
One of the most recent innovations is a rapid-sealing paste that can quickly stop bleeding. The solution was developed by researchers at The Mayo Clinic and some colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The most interesting part of this emerging technology is that it was inspired by barnacles. Barnacles are sea animals well-known for sticking to the bottom of ships, large fish, and rocks. They exude some kind of oil matrix that cleans out the surface by getting rid of moisture, while also producing a protein that helps with cross-linking them with molecules available on any surface they want to stick to.
The same two-step process that barnacles use is the same one that helps the sealing paste work when it’s applied to tissues or organs. Before more efficient methods of wound care were established, most surgeons would stop bleeding by forming a clot through speeding up the coagulation process. However, it still wasn’t fast enough because it would take a few minutes. Needless to say, more tests were needed. But fortunately, after the testing phase, it was proven that the rapid-sealing paste is effective. The testing phase ensures the quality and reliability of the paste.
Through the testing, the manufacturers of the paste set technical standards for their product. Therefore, you’re fully assured that the product is fully effective and made from high-quality materials that won’t harm your health. There have been pre-clinical studies that have been conducted to check the efficiency of the paste, which shows that the paste can stop bleeding of a wound in only 15 seconds. This paste is a promising innovation in wound care. It can be very useful in dealing with hemostasis even in internal organs and for patients who have clotting disorders.
Tracking wound healing with smart dressings
Smart dressings have been developed that glow when a wound is not healing properly. Researchers used built-in nanosensors to determine when a wound is not healing as it should or when an infection has set in. These smart dressings have shown to be effective in fighting fungi and bacteria. They also eliminate the sometimes painful process of removing a bandage in order to monitor the healing process of a wound. These bandages also last substantially longer than the current ones more widely used today, which also provides more comfort and better healing for patients.
Advancements in wound care are simple to measure. The faster a wound can be healed, the better chances there are for a positive outcome for the injured individual. Technological advancements will make wound care significantly easier in the near future. Lives will be saved and the quality of life will be improved, as more of these innovations become commonplace.
