New Hope for Diabetic Patients: The Surprising New Solution for Faster Wound Healing

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the University of Freiburg in Germany have developed a revolutionary method to address the major health concern of chronic wounds among diabetic patients and the elderly.

In severe cases, these wounds can even result in amputation. The electric stimulation method has been shown to increase the healing process and can make wounds heal three times faster than traditional methods.

While a small wound may not pose any significant threat to most individuals, those with diabetes, spinal injuries, or poor blood circulation often experience difficulty in healing wounds, which increases the risk of infection and chronic wounds. Over time, this can lead to severe consequences, such as the loss of limbs.

To combat this issue, the team of researchers at Chalmers and the University of Freiburg developed a method that uses electric stimulation to speed up the wound healing process, providing a groundbreaking solution to a major health problem.

Maria Asplund, the head of research on the project and Associate Professor of Bioelectronics at Chalmers University of Technology, highlights the importance of addressing “chronic wounds,” which are often overlooked as a significant societal problem. She emphasizes that the discovery of a method that could potentially “heal wounds up to three times faster can be a game changer” for those who suffer from impaired wound healing ability, such as “diabetic and elderly individuals.”

To accelerate the wound healing process, the research team looked to an old theory that suggested electric stimulation of damaged skin could be effective in healing wounds. Skin cells are believed to be electrotactic, meaning that they move directionally in electric fields. When electric fields are applied to a petri dish containing skin cells, they align themselves in the same direction instead of moving randomly. The team aimed to utilize this principle to guide cells electrically and speed up wound healing. They designed a miniature chip to compare wound healing in artificial skin by stimulating one wound with electricity and allowing the other to heal without any electric stimulation. The results were remarkable.

Maria Asplund explains that the research team was successful in demonstrating the efficacy of the old hypothesis of electric stimulation in significantly accelerating the healing process of wounds. In order to understand the underlying mechanism, the team developed a biochip to cultivate skin cells and create small wounds. By applying electric fields to one of the wounds and letting the other one heal without any electric stimulation, the team was able to observe that the electrically stimulated wound healed three times faster.

The study conducted by the research team also sheds light on the potential benefits of electric stimulation in wound healing for diabetic patients, who are increasingly affected by this health issue globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation, one in 11 adults suffer from some form of diabetes.

The team investigated the effectiveness of their method on wound healing in diabetes models and observed that wounds on the chip healed at a slower rate when diabetes was simulated in the cells. However, when electric stimulation was applied, the speed of healing increased significantly, making the diabetes-affected cells almost equivalent to healthy skin cells. These findings offer hope for diabetic patients who struggle with slow wound healing.

The research team at Chalmers University of Technology is currently exploring the possibility of developing personalized wound healing products for consumers in the market. With a recent grant, the team will be able to conduct further research in this area. Although similar products have been introduced previously, more extensive research is necessary to create effective products that can generate sufficient electric field strength and stimulate cells correctly for each individual.

To achieve this goal, the team is studying the interaction between different skin cells during stimulation to create a more realistic wound model. The objective is to devise a system that can scan wounds and customize the stimulation based on the unique characteristics of each wound. Asplund believes that this approach is crucial for helping individuals with slow-healing wounds effectively in the future.

The results of the study were published in the journal Lab on a Chip.

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