Nanotechnology in Medicine: New Infection Control for Burn Treatment?

Infection control is one of the most important aspects of any burn treatment and the advancements of nanotechnology in medicine might one day provide health care providers with what's known as "smart" bandages. The article, "Nanoparticle Bandages Could Detect and Treat Infection" by Catherine de Lange, explains the strategy behind the current research that is being conducted to improve infection control in burn treatment in the near future. Bacteria that is harmful contains a toxin that attacks and destroys the outer barrier or membrane of healthy cells which leads to infection; victims of severe burns are at risk of dying from massive infection. Current burn treatment requires the removal of bandages if there's any suspicions of infection. Unfortunately, removing bandages can cause injury at the burn site which can in turn slow down the healing process.

Research scientist want to use nanotechnology in medicine to develop smart bandages able to detect harmful bacteria, destroy them, and even alert medical staff responsible for providing infection control in burn treatment. Nanoparticles in smart bandages would contain antimicrobial agents or substances that kill harmful bacteria. Toxins released by the bacteria would rupture vesicles or membranous cavities containing bacteria-killing medicine located within the bandages. This would cause the release of the antimicrobial agents from those vesicles. In other words, the bacteria would ultimately cause their own destruction--if all goes according to design. The bandages would even contain a dye that causes them to change color when they have been "activated" for infection control.

While such a strategy sounds ingenious. Nanotechnology in medicine is considered extremely dangerous by some scientists and doctors. Attempting to control substances that are not the size the Creator made them is unpredictable, precarious, and unnatural. There's also the question of why researchers aren't willing to adopt the time-tested forms of very successful burn treatment around the world. For example, honey is one of nature's most effective all-natural antimicrobial agents; why not rediscover what the ancients knew about burn treatment long before there was any talk of nanotechnology in medicine?

One commenter on the article by Catherine de Lange wrote, "Many years ago I saw that in China they treat burn patients with a clear gel which must be protein based. The roll it on with this metal rod and as it dries they keep adding to it layer upon layer. It forms a crust and after about six weeks they rip it off and underneath the skin has grown back. No scars! it is also very cheap. I wonder why we don't investigate it." It's good to know that not everyone trusts or is fascinated by the technology of the future, but rather by the wisdom of the past.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19158-nanoparticle-bandages-could-detect-and-treat-infection.html