IIT-K makes dressing material for diabetic wounds using seaweed agar

This indigenous dressing will pave way for business incubation

A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds.

This indigenous solution will allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients and will also pave the way for business incubation. The biodegradable, non-immunogenic wound dressing was developed by adding several additive molecules like iodine and citric acid.

It has bagged a national patent and has been validated and tested in-vitro and in-vivo on rat model.

The role of addition of several active molecules like sericin, iodine, and citric acid to this novel wound dressing has been evaluated along with agar in terms of their healing and containment property with regards to chronic wounds.

The invention, in particular, provides agar dressing films for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds. The dressing may be used as a single layer, bilayer, or multi-layered hydrogel films depending on the severity and type of wound.

The next step would be to test its efficacy in the treatment of large wounds in big animals like rabbits or pigs. The final stage will include clinical trials. Following these steps, the technology can be commercialised in the market as single or all ingredient loaded uni/multilayer dressing material.

The advanced wound dressing market in India is largely monopolised by foreign companies. This indigenous dressing will not only allow cost-effective dressings for chronic wound patients but also will pave way for business incubation.