PhD Defence by Sofie Helveg Eriksen

The defense will also be held virtually. If you wish to follow the defense virtually you can sign up by sending an e-mail to Kateryna Nikolaieva at kanik@kt.dtu.dk latest on 19th January at 12:00 AM. You will then afterwards receive an invitation to join the virtual defense. 

Popular Summary

Treatment of chronic wounds is a burden on the healthcare system, accounting for more than 2% of healthcare expenditures. In addition to the financial burden, chronic wounds decrease the quality of life of both the patient and the patient’s support system. Improving treatment options could alleviate the burden on the patient, the patient’s support system, and the health care system. There is currently no one-sizefits-all dressing that addresses all the critical parameters within wound care due to the complexity and diversity within wounds. 

The aim of this PhD project was to develop a dressing that addresses a multitude of parameters important in wound healing, with the end goal of streamlining the treatment of wounds. A silicone-based dressing is chosen as the base for development to ensure gentle adhesion to the wound and an atraumatic removal. However, silicone elastomers typically have a low absorption capacity, which limits their application as a standalone dressing in wound treatment. Absorption in the dressing was therefore increased by the addition of glycerol to the silicone matrix and foaming of the system. Increasing absorption reduces the risk of exudate pooling, which may lead to poor wound healing and infection of the wound.

The risk of exudate pooling is further limited by application of the formulation to the wound bed in liquid form, followed by curing in the wound, ensuring a good fit to the wound bed. The developed dressings showed good compressibility, which helps mitigate pressure when exposed to external forces, e.g. by walking on the dressing (if the wound is located under the foot of the patient). The dressing also showed a high retention of liquids, which ensures that the absorbed exudate remains in the dressing, preventing leakage of exudate. This is important since exudate is corrosive and may damage the surrounding healthy skin. The work resulted in two promising candidates for the treatment of chronic wounds. The main difference between the dressings was that one dressing showed an antimicrobial, while the other dressing showed a higher absorption capacity. One dressing is therefore preferred for the treatment of infected wounds, while the other is preferred in the treatment of more exudating wounds.