ConvaTec, a medical technologies developer for community and hospital care, announced data demonstrating the safe use of AQUACEL Ag in an MRI environment. AQUACEL Ag is an advanced antimicrobial dressing.
AQUACEL Ag dressing was developed to provide clinicians and patients with all the unique gelling benefits of ConvaTec’s proprietary Hydrofiber Technology plus the benefits of ionic silver. This gelling action enables the dressing to lock in exudate and its harmful components and contour closely to the wound bed. With the addition of ionic silver, AQUACEL Ag dressing provides broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity on demand, responding to increased bacterial load with increased silver ion availability while killing a broad range of pathogens in the dressing, including MRSA and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).
The new research published in the well known science Journal, demonstrated that AQUACEL Ag may be classified as MR safe as defined in the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard F2503-05. An independent agency review, funded by ConvaTec, also demonstrated the safety and compatibility of the dressing in an MRI environment (up to 3 Tesla 128 MHz, SAR up to 2 W/kg), according to the standards of the ASTM.
ConvaTec initiated this important research because many of our customers have patients, particularly those in orthopaedic or burns units, who may need MRI scanning, said Marcus Schabacker, Chief Scientific Officer of ConvaTec. With these findings, clinicians can be confident that AQUACEL Ag is safe for use in this environment, and they will no longer need to remove and reapply the dressing before and after entering the MRI machine.