CANBERRA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- An Australian-led team of international researchers has made a major breakthrough in effectively treating chronic wounds.

In research published on Monday, researchers from Australia, Japan, Britain and the United States described how they used plasma to develop a more effective treatment for chronic wounds that does not require antibiotics or silver-based dressings.

Endre Szili, head of the plasma medicine research group at the University of South Australia (UniSA) and leader of the study, said in a media release that the new method is a significant breakthrough that could revolutionize the treatment of internal wounds, diabetic foot ulcers and potentially cancerous tumors.

The plasma activated hydrogel therapy (PAHT) treatment involves using cold plasma ionized gas, which produces potent oxidants, to enhance hydrogel dressings, making the gel far more powerful and killing common bacteria that cause wounds to become infected.

Szili said the plasma activated hydrogels could also help fight existing infections.

"Chronic wound infections are a silent pandemic threatening to become a global healthcare crisis," he said.

"It is imperative that we find alternative treatments to antibiotics and silver dressings because when these treatments don't work, amputations often occur."

According to the study, more than 540 million people globally are living with diabetes, 30 percent of whom will develop a foot ulcer during their lifetime. It estimated that the cost of managing chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers exceeds 17 billion U.S. dollars globally every year.

Neither antibiotics nor silver dressings are considered long-term solutions because of concerns over growing antibiotic resistance and silver-induced toxicity, Szili said.

The research team will next take the PAHT to clinical trials to optimize the technology for human patients. Enditem

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