Development and Antimicrobial Assessment of a Novel Hybrid Biomaterial Fibre Intended for Wound Dressing Applications

Wound dressings containing silver have been commercially marketed for some time now. On the whole, manufacturers are keen to publicize effective antimicrobial activities of their products against all kinds of pathogens including MRSA. However, there are little or no credible reports on minimal but potent quantities of silver needed in a dressing to eliminate bacteria or how effectively the silver within a dressing is released over time. This paper introduces a new hybrid biomaterial fibre made from polysaccharide-based polymers with inbuilt ability to gel and absorb large quantities of pseudo exudates. Furthermore, it will be reported that the new fibre carries up to six times less silver than it is conventionally used in silver dressings and displays a very slow rate of release whilst maintaining full potency over time against known gram positive/gram negative micro-organisms including MRSA. The paper concludes that the developed biomaterial fibre has long lasting antimicrobial and gelling properties comparable, if not better, than Acticoat AA and Aquacel Ag, two commercially available silver dressings.