Bangalore Company Creates Silk-Based Dressing That Can Regenerate Tissue

Silk is so much more than just a luxurious fabric and Bangalore based firm Sericare has been committed to making the most of this wondrous fibre since the year 2000. They use silkworms, larvae, cocoons and mulberry leaves to make products for human and animal well being. Their latest creation is Fibroheal which utilises the anti-bacterial properties of silk fibres to create a bio-modified active wound dressing. This new formula means that the dressing would actually stimulate tissue regeneration resulting in quicker healing and reduced scarring.
The dressing comes in four standard sizes but can be made to order which is especially useful when treating burn victims, skin grafts, donor sites and caesarean sections. “Fibroheal ensures 40-45% faster healing than traditional dressing,” Fibroheal’s general manager of sales Vivek Mishra told FactorDaily. “The wound heals within 8-10 days from application. The amino acid sequence of silk is a natural moisturising factor that aids tissue regeneration. It also has Asiaticoside to enhance would healing. Asiaticoside is the active chemical component of the plant Centella asiatica. It is used to treat wounds and burns.”

There are two active ingredients in the dressing, 46 per cent activated silk matrix, and 0.6 per cent Asiaticoside NLT. The products are physically treated with gamma irradiation prior to packaging to sterilise them and they are equipped with a hydrophobic outer layer which protects the wound from water. Doctors like Sushma Sagar in the Department of Surgical Disciplines at the All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) have already vouched for the effectiveness of the product.  “I have been using Fibroheal as dressing material on donor site as dressing material instead of regular paraffin gauge dressing. As a result the wound healed faster, less pain in removing the dressing at fourth day with better cosmetic scar at four and six weeks
The company has affiliations with a number of hospitals such as AIIMS, Trauma Centre Delhi, Manipal Hospital Bengaluru, Victoria Hospital Bengaluru, Command Hospital Air Force Bengaluru, JIPMER Hospital Puducherry, Armed Forces Medical College Pune, and Specialists’ Hospital Cochin and hope to expand this list as time goes on. Although Fibroheal is not meant for use on infected wounds but they later hope to release Fibroheal Silver with will have antibiotic properties as well. If they keep this up we could well be looking at the next miracle medicine of the future.

Representational Feature Image Courtesy labsexperts