In news

An Indian scientist has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds.

Details

• This indigenous dressing will allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients and will also pave the way for business incubation.
  
• The role of addition of several active molecules like sericin, iodine, and citric acid to this novel wound dressing has been evaluated along with agar in terms of their healing and containment property with regards to chronic wounds.
  
• The invention, in particular, provides agar dressing films for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds.
  
• The dressing may be used as a single layer, bilayer, or multi-layered hydrogel films depending on the severity and type of wound.
  

Way forward

• The next step would be to test its efficacy in the treatment of large wounds in big animals like rabbits or pigs.
• The final stage will include clinical trials. Following these steps, the technology can be commercialized in the market as single or all ingredient loaded uni/multilayer dressing material.

Significance

The advanced wound dressing market in India is largely monopolized by foreign companies. This indigenous dressing will not only allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients but also will pave way for business incubation.

Source: PIB