Chronic wounds are becoming increasingly prevalent due to an aging population and increases in the incidence of both diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. . In the USA alone, over 6.5 million patients suffer from chronic wounds annually, costing the US healthcare system $25 billion2.
Chronic wounds are worsened when they periodically become infected and in greater than 60% of these wound biofilm (a protective slimy extracellular matrix) forms3.
Traditional antimicrobials used in wound care (e.g. silver) are becoming less effective due to the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens, a phenomenon known as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). In 2019, AMR caused 1.27 million deaths globally and it is estimated that it will kill 10 million people a year in 2050..
Treatment of wounds now faces the perfect storm – an increasing number of chronic wounds and associated biofilm infections combined with decreasing performance of clinical interventions to manage them.
Matoke is building a clinically serious platform for infection control in chronic wounds. At the centre of that platform is RO Technology, designed around the controlled generation of hydrogen peroxide within the wound environment and supported by published work on antimicrobial activity, biofilm relevance and the wider role of reactive oxygen in wound healing and infection control.[13–21]
