The future and evolution of healing
By Dr. Ashok Kumar Moharana
The concept of wound care management today is undergoing a technological transformation, with novel inventions supported by digital diagnostics and superior wound healing formulas.
Precision technology has been deployed to solve problems in the field of wound care, aiming at relieving pain, promoting healing, or controlling infection at the site of the wound. Advanced wound dressings have come a long way in recent years and the developments in technology have made them much easier to use and much more effective for treating wounds. They are used to heal wounds, reduce infection, promote a speedy recovery and are used for a variety of injuries, from minor cuts to serious pressure ulcers, burns and in post-operative recovery. New dressings today are incorporated with topical medications, like topical antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs, to help relieve the pain, reduce, or control inflammation and fight infection, as part of the wound healing process.
Improvements in wound dressing technology, including smart and nanotechnology, have allowed for improved absorption, permeability, hydration and protection for both acute and chronic wounds. Dressings now also come with active biological ingredients, which help to promote the healing of the wound and reduce any discomfort or pain associated with it. Any microbial or bacterial activity that can cause infection, such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can also be inhibited. Latest innovation has also enabled the same properties of enhancing wound healing and antimicrobial activity in a wound dressing with a completely physical mechanism of action, with no active ingredient entering the body.
Today there is enormous emphasis on therapies that can be applied by single, nonsurgical applications at multiple sites of care. While we continue to develop drugs to treat other diseases and enhance the healing of wounds, the next generation of wound care has incorporated biological therapies to improve wound closure rates for highly compromised patients. This is achieved by using dressings, which due to their semi permeable property promote exchange of necessary fluids during the healing process. This is also beneficial in paediatric wounds which can thus be treated with minimize possible scarring.
The future of advanced wound dressing technology continues to look promising. A research-driven approach is paving the way for developing new dressing formulas, which improve the healing process, such as the ones that promote angiogenesis or enhance the growth of new capillaries or ones that provide a scaffold for tissue regeneration. Overall, advanced wound dressings are a valuable tool in wound care and the technology is only improving with a promising future. Finding an appropriate solution that adapts to multiple types and degrees of wound severity will be critical for improving patient outcomes, while the industry continues to improvise and make new products and solutions in advanced wound care.
(The author is a Chief Medical Officer, Healthium Medtech. The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult medical experts and health professionals before starting any therapy, medication and/or remedy. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)