PANSaBIO

Already frequent (> 950 000 per year in France), chronic wounds from escarres, ulcers, diabetes and cancers will expand in the next decades due to population ageing and diabetes increase. Infection of these wounds by pathogen bacteria leads to a decline of the patients' health, to a growth of the treatment expanse, to longer cares and sometimes to the necessity of the patient's hospitalization. At the present time, the used antibacterial agents are efficient but only on the short–term as bacteria rapidly develop a protective biofilm. Caring the wounds is particular and painful for the sick person; moreover nurses have to intervene frequently over long periods of time. Improvement in this field would be a great help for the personal in hospital and mainly for the numerous patients. It will also provide an answer to a question arising in all developed countries. We propose to control the biofilm level by the combined use of various agents preserving the commensal flora of the wound. We also wish to avoid bacterial infection by mastering specifically the growth of some pathogen bacteria. The PANSaBIO project consists in realizing a systematic study of bacterial contamination, biofilm formation and infection on various types of chronic wounds. Such data are not available today. Then using these data, we will focus on the creation and development of a smart anti-biofilm dressing for chronic wounds. This dressing must be efficient and easy to use, must facilitate the care of chronic wounds, limit patients' hospitalization and avoid bacterial infection. In addition a file will be created to connect the macroscopic characteristics of the wound to the data obtained through various analyses at different scales. The dressing here developed will control the biofilm level and if necessary destroy pathogen bacteria. It will be a new type of product with smart drug delivery properties. The project will join the efforts of medical staff, of academic researchers and of a start-up, all of them being recognized specialists of their respective fields. All steps have been separately studied and the whole program should be realized in the next 4 years. Finally, this project is of real interest for all developed countries.