Identifying wound and surrounding skin microbiome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identifying wound and surrounding skin microbiome
IRAS ID
236318
Contact name
Jacqueline R Forss
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Brighton
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 21 days
Research summary
A wound is a break in the skin which has the potential to become a problem for the majority of our older population and people with certain medical conditions such as Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and circulatory conditions. These problems could include slow healing, local wound infection and spreading infection, which have the impact of pain, reduced activity, odour, reduced quality of life and in some instances risk to life and limb.
Every person has a normal pattern of bacteria living on their skin, however, when there is a wound, there is a place of entry for these normal skin bacteria, as well as new, potential infection causing bacteria to enter.
With the reports of increasing bacteria resistance, it is vital to understand what is happening to the normal skin bacteria, and the bacteria in a wound, while it is being protected by dressings.
This project seeks to identify what is happening to the normal skin bacteria when covered by a dressing, what is happening to the bacteria in the wound bed over time and whether increases in wound bacteria can be identified using non-invasive methods (electronic noses) to help detect infections early. We will use the normal clinical procedures to assess the wound bed bacteria, however we will use non-invasive assessment to identify skin bacteria on the area of skin next to the wound as well as non-invasive odour assessment using a hand held e-nose device which can assess the area directly above the wound and from above the dressing to detect any odour markers for bacteria.
The results should allow better understanding as to what is happening in and around a wound as it heals, and has the potential to allow another, non invasive method of identifying wound infection, which will enable earlier treatment and improvements in infection related outcomes.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/YH/0032
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jan 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion