Application of a Biomodulator for Enhancing the Efficacy of Antibiotics Against Wound Pathogens

In this study, we used a biomodulator technology which generates microcurrent, electrical impulses that are transmitted by electrodes in the device through the skin to interface with the body’s internal peripheral nervous system for various therapeutic interventions.

This technology is FDA-approved for pain management. This research was focused on evaluation of the biomodulator and determining if it synergistically enhances efficacy of antibiotics for treating wound infections. We studied the synergistic effect of the biomodulator and antibiotics by employing various testing parameters. We conducted testing for Untreated Control, Antibiotic Treated Control, Treated with Biomodulator alone,and Treated with Biomodulator and 1 µg antibiotic. The antibiotic control and antibiotic treated groups were tested at five time points (0, 1, 2, 4, and 24 hours).

Antibiotics were added to the culture on glass cover slip after two treatments with microcurrent on the pad with contact basis applied for 30 minutes, waited for 30 minutes, and applied again for 30 minutes. Untreated control and non-antibiotic treated groups were treated with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at 24-hour time point. The glass cover slips were removed from petri dishes and the number of surviving organisms (e.g., P. pseudomonas and MRSA). were determined by serial dilutions and plating. Results showed that the antibiotic and biomodulator combination treatment leads to an enhanced synergistic killing effect.

There was a significant difference (10 times less) between treated cultures versus control in biomodulator treatment with no antibiotic (1 µg/ml of Tobramycin) at 0, 1, 2 hours for 106 cultures. We are currently conducting studies with additional wound pathogens. We have developed a novel therapeutic tool for potentially increasing the efficacy of antibiotics used for treatment of wound infections.