Personal Injury Law

Continuous Streaming Therapy Using Dermastream Show Promise For Chronic Wound Care

By Wayne Parsons

Permanent wounds that never heal afflict over six million people in the U.S. The wound sometimes appear to heal but then return. Elderly nursing home residents see them as dangerous bed sores or pressure ulcers, and diabetics are susceptible to wounds caused by a lack of blood flow to the extremities. In the recent report from Science Daily a new therapy offers hope of healing these painful wounds. The technique is called Continuous Streaming Therapy and is being developed at Tel Aviv University (TAU) by Professor Amihay Freeman

"The problem is chronic," says Prof. Amihay Freeman of TAU's Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology. To solve it, he's developed a unique device that uses a solution to whisk away dead tissue, bathing the wound while keeping dangerous bacteria away.

TAU's Dermastream provides an enzyme-based solution that flows continuously over the wound. Other techniques are very expensive and labor intensive. Dermastream could save the millions of dollars a year in health care costs and be more effective. Dermastream has passed clinical trials in Israeli hospitals and may be available in the U.S. within the next year, says Prof. Freeman.

Dermastream uses a special solution developed at Prof. Freeman's TAU laboratory in what is now described as "continuous streaming therapy."

"Our basic idea is simple," says Prof. Freeman. "We treat the wound by streaming a solution in a continuous manner. Traditional methods require wound scraping to remove necrotic tissue. That is expensive, painful and extremely uncomfortable to the patient. And while active ingredients applied with bandages on a wound may work for a couple of hours, after that the wound fights back. The bacteria build up again, creating a tedious and long battle."

Dermastream "flows" under a plastic cover that seals the wound, providing negative pressure that promotes faster healing. The active biological ingredient, delivered in a hypertonic medium, works to heal hard-to-shake chronic wounds. While traditional bandaging methods may take months to become fully effective, Dermastream can heal chronic wounds in weeks, Prof. Freeman says.

Prof. Freeman is working with the Veterans Association hospital in Tucson, AZ, to bring the technology to the U.S. market.

Dermastream uses enzymes that were previously applied to wounds as ointments but were slow acting and hard to apply. The continuous streaming therapy combines the enzymes with continuous flowing liquid that increases the effectiveness of the enzymes on the would site.

"My solution helps doctors regain control of the chronic wound, making management more efficient, and vastly improving the quality of their patients' lives," Prof. Freeman concludes.

MLA Tel Aviv University (2009, August 28). Washing Away Painful Wounds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 30, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/08/090826152601.htm

Full post as published by Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer on August 30, 2009 (boomark / email).