National award for scientific analysis of wound care dressings

UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield researchers have taken part in an award-winning project that will enable healthcare companies to develop and supply more effective wound dressings.

Professor Karen Ousey directs the University’s Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention and she played a key role in research that was awarded funding by the Government-backed Innovate UK.  She was joined by her University colleague Dr Nikolaos Georgopoulos and teamed up with the Cheshire-based lab Perfectus Biomed and the Sweden-based healthcare multi-national Essity to develop a new and reliable method for testing how much of the fluid that exudes from wounds can be absorbed by dressings.

The research team succeeded in its goal and has now received the award for Best Clinical or Preclinical Research Award at the 2019 Journal of Wound Care Awards.

Professor Ousey explained that many superabsorbent (SAP) wound dressings are being released on to the market every year, but there has been no validated test specifically designed to assess how well they actually perform in clinical settings.

“Healthcare professionals often make treatment choices based on marketing material and single case studies only,” said Professor Ousey.

But now the University, Perfectus Biomed and BSN Medical - an Essity company – have developed an in-vitro test method that assesses the fluid handling properties of SAPs within an exuding wound.

“Wound care companies who commission the test will better understand and market their products.  They will be able to test them using a validated method which mimics real life and so provide data to clinicians that increases confidence in clinical product performance,” said Professor Ousey.

She added that the test – available via Perfectus Biomed – would also aid the research and development of new products.