New surgical technology can ‘light up’ bacteria in wounds,
helping to prevent infections

A handheld fluorescent lighting device found hidden bacteria in 9 out of 10 wounds, study says

Up to 5% of people who have surgery can develop an infection — which can prolong healing and lead to dangerous complications, studies have shown.

Additionally, chronic wounds affect around 6.5 million patients in the U.S.

Some bacteria can’t be seen with the human eye, which means they may be missed by physicians when cleaning a wound.

Now, a new medical technology that uses fluorescent light has shown to be effective in detecting missed bacteria, according to new research led by University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC).

In a review of 26 medical studies, a handheld device using autofluorescence (AF) imaging successfully “lit up” bacteria in nine out of 10 wounds, with each different type of bacteria turning a different color, according to a press release from USC.

The findings were published recently in the medical journal
Advances in Wound Care.

In traditional cases, surgeons take tissue samples from wounds and send them to a lab for testing to determine the types of bacteria that are present, the researchers noted.

It can take days to get the results, during which time infection can set in.

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