Vomaris Innovations, Inc. announced today a notable presentation of clinically relevant data on how exposure to electric fields generated by their Advanced Microcurrent Technology® disrupts biofilm-induced antibiotic resistance, at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) and Wound Healing Society (WHS) Spring conference held April 5–9, in San Diego, California.
The presentation, titled “Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance in Wound Biofilm Infection,” was part of the WHS Concurrent Session on Infection and Biofilms, and was delivered by Amitava Das, Ph.D.
These data represent a small subset of a significantly more extensive body of evidence recently generated by Professor Chandan Sen, Ph.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of the Comprehensive Wound Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. More data on the impact of Vomaris’s wireless electroceutical device (WED) on disruption and prevention of biofilm in wounds is expected to be forthcoming by Dr. Sen and his team at OSU.
The Problem with Biofilms
Bacteria readily form biofilms to shelter themselves from both antibiotics and the body’s immune defenses. Using electric interactions, bacteria communicate with each other. Once bacteria adhere to a surface, they continue their signaling activity to multiply and encase themselves within a protective barrier called a biofilm. Biofilm makes the bacteria tolerant to antibiotics and impedes a patient’s ability to fight an infection, making biofilm-infected wounds extremely difficult to treat.
A recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed antibiotic resistance a significant global health threat, causing 700,000 deaths a year – a figure that is expected to explode to 10 million a year by 2050 if no action is taken. The need for alternative therapeutic strategies is of utmost priority.
Because deliberate infection with highly pathogenic biofilm-forming bacteria can only be conducted in a pre-clinical wound setting, Dr. Sen and his research team used an established porcine pre-clinical model of chronic biofilm infection, to understand the mechanism of action of this WED in the presence of an intact immune system.
“The work done by Dr. Sen and his team is robust and exemplary. It demonstrates that Vomaris’s Advanced Microcurrent Technology can present a practical and clinically viable non-pharmacologic alternative to antimicrobial and antibiofilm efficacy in wound care. We are very excited about the role our products can play in addressing the global challenge of biofilm-induced antibiotic resistance,” said Mike Nagel, President and CEO of Vomaris Innovations, Inc.
About SAWC Symposium
Now in its 30th year, the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring / Wound Healing Society meeting (SAWC Spring / WHS) (http://www.sawc.net/spring/) is considered the nation’s largest and most well-respected interdisciplinary wound care program in the clinical field. This conference serves as a forum for wound care members to connect with renowned experts in wound care to improve patient outcomes through education, advanced clinical reviews, and emerging research findings.