Interested in an alternative to antiseptic creams or antibiotic tablets for your wounds?

Well scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered a viable alternative that will stop wounds from becoming infected whilst also encouraging healing.

The miracle solution?

Well, it’s not a cream at all, nor is it a pill.

Instead, the researchers have discovered that using tiny zaps of electricity – so small that you wouldn’t even feel them – bacteria can be eradicated from a wound. This means that (unless other bacteria is introduced later) the wound won’t get infected, allowing it to heal cleanly and easily.

Bozhi Tian, a senior co-author on the paper, explained the significance of their discovery in a statement from the University of Chicago:

“This opens up exciting possibilities for drug-free treatments, especially for skin infections and wound healing, where antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a serious challenge.”

The researchers tested these low-level electrical pulses to determine what effect they would have on Staphylococcus epidermidis. This bacteria is a common cause of wound infections, since it’s naturally found on human skin; it can often be resistant to antibiotics too, meaning that it’s difficult to kill.

In the research, which was recently published in the academic journal Device, the team explained how they used 1.5 volts of electricity for ten seconds. They repeated this every ten minutes over an 18-hour period, finding that – in the right conditions – 99% of bacteria was eradicated.

Their discovery of its effectiveness under slightly acidic conditions (as is present on human skin) is groundbreaking, as Saehyun Kim, co-author on the study, expressed in the statement:

“Bacteria’s response to electricity isn’t well explored, partially because we don’t know the specific conditions under which bacteria will be excited. Discovering this selective excitability will help us discover how to control other bacteria species by looking at different conditions.”

Why is this important when we have antiseptics and antibiotics?

Well mostly because we shouldn’t take these for granted. Antibiotics have long been overused in both humans and animals, meaning that many bacteria – Staphylococcus epidermidis included – have developed a resistance to them.

This means that antibiotics are becoming less effective, causing an alarming increase in deaths from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

Figuring out how electric pulses could be a viable alternative was the next problem tackled by the team at the University of Chicago. For practicality and ease of use, they designed a skin patch, which they named Bioelectronic Localized Antimicrobial Stimulation Therapy (or BLAST).

This patch creates the acidic environment required for effective treatment through a gel, whilst electrodes in the patch applied periodic and imperceptible electric pulses to the wound over the required period to kill the bacteria.

While this study is still at an early stage, and hasn’t been tested on real human wounds yet, it is hoped that this vital research will help us to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria and stop people dying of preventable skin infections.

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