New Wound Dressing with Drug Releasing Fibers

Filed in archive Other Biotechnology News on November 20, 2009

Researchers from the Tel Aviv University have developed a new wound dressing based on innovative fibers that can be loaded with antibiotics, then dissolve when the healing process is completed. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research â€" Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria.

The new TAU dressing inhibits bacterial growth and is biodegradable, which helps doctors avoid constant wound cleaning and redressing, allowing the body to do the work on its own. "When administered at the wound, a doctor can give relatively high but local doses of antibiotics, avoiding any toxicity issues that arise when the same amount of antibiotic passes through the body," explains Prof. Zilberman, who worked on this research with Jonathan Elsner, her PhD student.

So far, the wound dressing has passed physical and mechanical tests in vitro and in bacterial inhibition tests in the laboratory, and clinical trials on animal models have already been started.