Using an advanced form of a rubber stamp, researchers have developed a way to adhere an very thin antibacterial coating to a wound.
Using Silver as the active ingredient. Silver has been used to prevent and treat infections for years. The down side is that silver can kill skin cells, the next step is to deliver levels of silver to wound that are nontoxic but still delivery the anti bacterial properties.
A recent paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, by researchers from the chemical and biological engineering department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describe a process for creating a see through very thin polymer coating carrying exact levels of very fine silver nanoparticles.
The coating, thinner than a human hair, was added to a flexible piece of rubber and then using a rubber stamp, stamped onto a piece of test skin that was used in the experiment.Two types of bacteria often found in wounds were added to the skin. When the skin was tested 12 hours later neither were found to be present.
Wounds that will not heal are a major cause of pain and consern to patients. Millions of cases of burns are treated across the world each year, there are also many other wounds that also will not heal. The cost to medical profession and the larger economy could be immense. Now who would of thought a rubber stamp could ever do that!!!
