Ultrasound accelerates skin healing – especially for diabetics and the elderly

Treatment could save the NHS £3.1 billion every year

More than 200,000 patients in the UK suffer with chronic wounds

Healing time can be reduced by a third

Healing times for skin ulcers and bedsores can be reduced by a third with the use of low-intensity ultrasound, scientists from the University of Sheffield and University of Bristol have found.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Science discovered the ultrasound transmits a vibration through the skin and wakes up cells in wounds helping to stimulate and accelerate the healing process.

More than 200,000 patients in the UK suffer with chronic wounds every year at a cost of over £3.1 billion to the NHS.

The ultrasound treatment, which also reduces the chance of wounds getting infected, is particularly effective when treating diabetics and the elderly.

There are 11 million over-65s, three million diabetics, and 10 million smokers in the UK – all of whom are likely to suffer problems with healing wounds.

A quarter of diabetics suffer from skin ulcers, particularly foot ulcers, due to the loss of sensation and circulation in the legs.

Lead author of the study Dr Mark Bass, from the University’s Centre for Membrane Interactions and Dynamics (CMIAD), said: “Skin ulcers are excruciatingly painful for patients and in many cases can only be resolved by amputation of the limb.

“Using ultrasound wakes up the cells and stimulates a normal healing process. Because it is just speeding up the normal processes, the treatment doesn’t carry the risk of side effects that are often associated with drug treatments.”

The pioneering study, which is published in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology , was carried out in collaboration with the School of Biochemistry at the University of Bristol, the Wound Biology Group at the Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair, and the orthopaedic company, Bioventus LLC.

Dr Bass added: “Now that we have proven the effectiveness of ultrasound we need to explore the signal further. We have found that the ultrasound signal we currently use is effective, but it is possible that by refining the treatment we could improve the effects even further.

“Because ultrasound is relatively risk free we could expect to see it in broad clinical use within three or four years.”

Additional information The University of Sheffield

With almost 26,000 of the brightest students from around 120 countries, learning alongside over 1,200 of the best academics from across the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the world’s leading universities.

A member of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group of leading research-led institutions, Sheffield offers world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines.

Unified by the power of discovery and understanding, staff and students at the university are committed to finding new ways to transform the world we live in.

In 2014 it was voted number one university in the UK for Student Satisfaction by Times Higher Education and in the last decade has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in recognition of the outstanding contribution to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life.

Sheffield has five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and its alumni go on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields.

Global research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKline, Siemens and Airbus, as well as many UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.