Healthcare
Solid Silicones
“We want wound patients to suffer less pain in the future,” says Dr. Birgit Auzias. To meet this goal, she and her team in Burghausen are testing a wide variety of silicone gels used to coat bandages and wound dressings for treating chronic and extensive wounds. Changing dressings is traumatic for some 40 percent of patients. “With our silicone gel, we are helping these people,” she adds. Such gels are breathable and adhere gently to the skin, promoting the healing process.
Self-adhesive pad for electrotherapy
Determining the softness of silicone gel
Silicone wound contact layer, developed together with KET-LIEGAU
Dr. Birgit Auzias is responsible for silicone wound-care products at WACKER.
“There is huge demand for professional silicone wound dressings.”
Dr. Birgit Auzias
Chemist
Silicone Dressings Are in Demand
There is considerable demand for professional wound dressings. This is because more and more people in industrialized countries suffer from chronic wounds. People with diabetes are particularly affected: there are over 360 million of them worldwide and their number might even rise to 900 million by 2030. “Demand is very strong and growing fast,” says Auzias, who collaborates with all major dressing manufacturers. In Europe, WACKER is now a leader in this segment. The company has been producing medical silicones for 20 years. Respirator masks, artificial limbs and baby pacifiers are just some of the varied applications available. “We are constantly developing our silicones,” Auzias explains. The latest trend is functional wound dressings with integrated sensors that can release medication or measure whether patients are losing too much fluid. Silicones are ideal for embedding sensors in a wound dressing.