Silver Nanoparticle Antibacterial Coating Rubber-Stamped onto Wound

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a way to apply a thin layer of antibacterial coating to wounds using a rubber-stamp. The coating consists of silver nanoparticles, which needs to be applied in a very thin layer of just a few molecules thick, because silver, although it prevents infections, is toxic in higher doses. The coating is assembled on a flexible piece of rubber and then rubber-stamped onto the wound. For the current study the layer was stamped on simulated wounds on pieces of cadaver skin. To test the effectiveness of the coating, strands of S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa were applied to the wounds after application of the coating. The coating showed strong bactericidal effects, with 99.999% of bacteria killed after twelve hours, lasting for at least 48 hours. Preliminary studies have shown that the the coating does not impair wound healing in diabetic mice and studies on infected wounds are currently underway in mice and pigs. The study was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Image: Fluorescent microscopy of PEMs (polyelectrolyte multilayers) transferred by contract printing onto the dermis of cadaver skin grafts. A) PDMS (poly(dimethylsiloxane)) before stamping; B) PDMS after stamping; C) skin dermis after stamping. The fluorescent signal was generated by 1 μm diameter crimson-fluorescent PS microspheres incorporated into PEMs. Scale bar = 400 μm.
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