Procellera bandage by Vomaris.
Posted on 02/22/2012 9:03:36 AM PST by null and void
Innovative technology getting serious consideration from nation’s military
The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command is giving serious consideration to bioelectric bandages to provide pain relief, kill dangerous bacteria, and heal wounds more quickly out on the battlefield.
Procellera bandage by Vomaris.
The bandage, dubbed “Procellera,” purportedly creates a healing bioelectrical pathway over the wound surface to enhance the body’s natural healing process. It has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is now being used to treat difficult-to-heal wounds.
Background on the bandage
Procellera is the world’s first self-contained, conformable, cut-to-fit, electrically active bandage. It is manufactured by Vomaris, a medical device company that specializes in niche technologies, and whose focus right now is addressing wound care with electric-field-generating technologies.
The cloth-based bandage is based on Vomaris’s “Prosit Technology,” which is designed to emulate the natural electrical energy found in healing tissue. The bandage contains silver and zinc dots in a pattern of tiny batteries which create microcurrents in the presence of conductive fluids (from wound exudate or exogenous fluids, including saline).
Procellera bandage dry.
Procellera bandage wet.
According to the manufacturer, by mimicking the body’s energy levels this way, the bandage helps reduce pain and speed up recovery time.
About bioelectric healing
When a skin injury occurs, the endogenous electrical activity that takes place helps cells migrate through and around the wound site. This electrical activity is important because fibroblasts, keratinocytes, neutrophils, and mast cells are all on the move within these low-level micro-currents.
By adding an external microvoltage, their migration is significantly enhanced. For this reason, electric stimulation has long been recognized as an effective means for safely reducing infection, decreasing pain and inflammation, and improving overall wound healing.
Killing bacteria
The unique elements that this bandage includes also make it an effective resource for killing bacteria. That’s because gram-negative and -positive bacteria carry within them a negative charge. As a result, they are attracted to the positive pole-containing silver dots on the bandage.
What happens is the silver binds the sulfhydryl groups of these microbes, and denatures the proteins that ultimately destroy the respiratory function of the bacteria (along with other essential proteins, too).
The silver kills viruses and fungi using a similar method, denaturing the necessary proteins to ultimately destroy the bacteria.
Outlook
As a general-use bandage with the ability to provide effective pain and wound control, Procellera could have a huge impact for the Army if tests yield positive results.
Right now studies are taking place with the Army’s Ranger units. Worth noting is that during a recent Ranger road march, a number of soldiers sustained crippling blisters. When they applied Procellera to the wound area, several soldiers reported significant pain relief, with most quickly returning to the march.
The general public is likely to learn more about this technology as indications for its use are expanded. Today, its uses are directed toward full- and partial-thickness skin wounds, covering everything from simple abrasions and skin tears to traumatic wounds and surgical sites. ■
Learn more at vomaris.com
Images and information via the Vomaris website.
...wound healing...
bfl
bfl
Freaking incredible.
Won’t work on werewolves or vampires, though.............
Ubama gotta keep his Masters Happy!
Sounds like something out of Starship Troopers...
bttt
Really interesting. Between this and some quik-clot anybody can do first aid on even fairly major trauma.
I zinc zo...
Silver has been known for its antiseptic properties for many, many years. Why do you think those idiots keep drinking colloidal silver, thinking it is a miracle cure? They’re incorrect, but there is a real phenomenon that their spurious claims built upon.
Add in some gauze made of sterile intracellular matrix, and you’re good to go!
Quik-clot was some amazing stuff!
I like my ashermans, decompression needle an celox with a homebrew of sugar an iodine as infection fighter.
But this looks cool.... What if the battery dies do I ?
.....:o)
Will actually read the article when I get near a computer vs my phone.
Stay Safe Laz...
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