Doctors from Israel and Europe presented a new breakthrough in the field of burns, chronic and surgical wound treatment. The Israeli company Nanomedic has designed “SpinCare Portable Wound System,” a medical gun that spins out “Spider-Man”-like webs to cover burns and wounds. The team hopes that the breathable “skin substitute” will help patients recover without having painful bandage changes.
The artificial skin shot out of the medical gun allows patients to move around and shower, a process that can be difficult with traditional bulky dressings. The translucent layer it produces allows doctors to examine the wound healing below without touching it, thereby reducing the risk of infection and cross-contamination. It can be applied easily and quickly, even in hard-to-dress areas, and provides excellent adherence to all body surfaces.
According to Nanomedic doctors and professionals, the device employs a technique called “electrospinning” that involves using electricity to create nano-fibers from a solution and has been around for a couple of years, including in the medical field. The SpinCare device is far smaller and much more mobile than the large electrospinning machines previously available.
Subsequently, this forms a kind of network that is shot directly to the burn area, which seals the area but allows perspiration to accelerate the healing process. Early reviews indicate that SpinCare could be a promising alternative to expensive bandages and dressings.
Gary J Sagiv, Nanomedic’s vice president of marketing and sales, explained that the price of the device varies from country to country but ensures that it is more cost-effective for institutions compared to other advanced wound dressings that already exist in the market. A German hospital has already used it for facial burns, where large bandages could be burdensome, he says.
Also, Baljit Dheansa, a doctor in the UK who specializes in burns and scarring, used SpinCare on five patients at Queen Victoria hospital in Sussex, and the results were positive for superficial burns. However, it was less effective for deep burns.
“With this kind of dressing, in the right circumstance, it just means the patient doesn’t have to learn about how to do dressings, and they are a bit more flexible and don’t have to worry so much,” Dheansa told The Guardian. “And sort of relaxing a bit more.”