Limb-saving technology

“This is a new field and it’s very challenging,” Handa said. He has a background in polymer science and chemical technology and partnered with other researchers to understand the body’s mechanisms and how nitric oxide technology could work. “This is a very complicated problem.”

With more research, the wound dressings could be available both commercially and for the military. Handa is working with the Department of Defense and the Army — particularly the burn unit at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio — to design wound dressings for injured service members.

“The problem with battlefield wounds or wounds suffered in urban warfare caused by incendiary bombs is the significant tissue damage,” Johnson said. For service members, this new technology could potentially prevent the loss of a limb.

“This could be applied in the urban warfare environment such as Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added. Johnson previously served as a military flight surgeon and family physician for eight years and has 34 years of medical experience.

He mentioned another current war zone. “In Syria, with the use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), there is the possibility of thermal damage involved with tissue,” he said. “This can cause subsequent wound infection, rendering surrounding tissue nonviable ... All branches of the military would benefit from wound-healing technologies.”

In coming years, Handa plans to take the research “to the hospital” and make it a commercially viable product. Ordinary patients, service members and severe trauma care patients alike could heal more efficiently, he says.