chronic wounds

(Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions) An estimated $25 billion is spent annually on treating chronic wounds on patients in the United States.

These chronic wounds deeply affect the quality of life of more than six million people who have them. The most common types of chronic skin wounds and skin ulcers are related to venous disease (conditions related to or caused by veins that become diseased or abnormal).

(Massachusetts General Hospital) Massachusetts General Hospital investigators have developed a novel system for delivery of growth factors to chronic wounds such as pressure sores and diabetic foot ulcers.

The team from the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine fabricated nanospheres containing keratinocyte growth factor fused with elastin-like peptides.

When suspended in a fibrin gel, the nanoparticles improved the healing of deep skin wounds in diabetic mice.

(Ohio State University) Scientists have determined that chronic wounds might have trouble healing because of the actions of a tiny piece of a molecular structure in cells known as RNA.

The Ohio State University researchers discovered in a new animal study that this RNA segment in wounds with limited blood flow lowers the production of a protein that is needed to encourage skin cells to grow and close over the sore.

(Institute of Physics) Two prototype devices have been developed: one for efficient disinfection of healthy skin (e.g. hands and feet) in hospitals and public spaces where bacteria can pose a lethal threat; and another to shoot bacteria-killing agents into infested chronic wounds and enable a quicker healing process.

(Washington University School of Medicine) Cancerous tumors sometimes form at the site of chronic wounds or injury, but the reason why is not entirely clear.

Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have engineered mice with a persistent wound-like skin condition, and the mice are helping them understand the tumor-promoting effects of long-standing wounds and injuries.