By Samir Awad MD
Medical Director, Electrome
Bioelectric medicine accelerates wound healing by restoring and modulating the body’s natural electrical signals, which directs cell migration, enhances tissue repair, and reduces infection in chronic and acute wounds
Introduction
Wound healing is a biological necessity and one of medicine’s most expensive challenges. Chronic wounds affect millions globally, driven by diabetes, vascular disease, burns, and pressure injuries. Left untreated, they often lead to infection, amputation, and reduced quality of life. In the United States alone, chronic wound care exceeds $30 billion annually, with even higher indirect costs from lost productivity and complications.
Traditional wound care relies on dressings, antibiotics, and surgical intervention. These approaches often treat symptoms but fail to address the disrupted signaling environment that blocks tissue repair. Bioelectric medicine offers a different approach – restoring the body’s native electrical cues to accelerate closure, reduce infection, and improve structural outcomes.
The Science of Bioelectric Healing
When tissue is injured, endogenous electrical fields emerge at wound edges. These fields guide fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and immune cells to the site, coordinating closure. In conditions like diabetes or aging, this signal weakens, leaving wounds stalled.
Studies show that modulating wound fields by even a few millivolts can accelerate closure, increase angiogenesis, suppress microbial colonization, and minimize scarring (1–5). This process, called galvanotaxis, highlights the wound as an electrically active site rather than a passive lesion.
“Every wound carries an electrical fingerprint,” explains Dr. Nevena Zubcevik, CMO of Electrome. “When that signal is restored, tissue begins to repair itself.”
Electrome’s Smart Platform for Wound Care
Electrome is developing AI-guided wound dressings that merge biosensing with precision stimulation. Smart patches track local field strength, oxygenation, and pH, while adaptive algorithms deliver tailored pulses in real time.
Our patented system continuously adjusts the waveform and amplitude as the wound progresses through healing phases. For patients, the therapy is simple: apply the dressing, and embedded sensors communicate with a handheld device and app. Clinicians receive feedback, enabling personalized treatment outside the hospital.
Our devices in development work to help previously intractable wounds, such as radiotherapy ulcers, venous stasis injuries, and diabetic foot ulcers, close with fewer antibiotics and less need for surgical closure.
“By restoring the body’s natural electrical language, we will not just be closing wounds faster, we’re re-establishing the conditions for true tissue repair. Our goal at Electrome is to make advanced healing accessible outside of the hospital, so every patient has the chance to recover fully and reclaim quality of life.” Nev Zubcevik, DO, Chief Medical Officer, Electrome
Mechanisms of Repair
Healing mechanisms occur via growth factor modulation, upregulation of HIF-1α , increase of protein and mRNA level of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), and protein level of β1 integrin. These mechanisms interact dynamically, with timing and waveform dictating outcome. Electrome’s adaptive patented therapy engine is designed to harness this complexity.
“Smart wound platforms are not just devices,” says Dr. Wanni Davis, Electrome’s COO. “They represent a new standard of patient-centered, data-driven care.”
Transforming Chronic Care
Chronic wounds disproportionately affect older and immunocompromised populations. Electrome’s modular devices allow treatment in homes, clinics, or community centers, reducing reliance on specialty wound centers.
Integration with telemedicine platforms further enables patient independence, while cloud-based analytics ensure clinicians can track healing remotely. This democratization of advanced wound care supports global health equity by lowering barriers to access.
Conclusion
Bioelectric medicine is poised to transform wound care from reactive management to proactive healing. By restoring endogenous signals and integrating AI-driven feedback, Electrome’s patented wound platforms in development aim to accelerate closure, prevent infection, and reduce system-wide costs.
The fusion of engineering, biology, and data science represents a future where chronic wounds no longer define patient outcomes, but where healing is adaptive, personalized, and accessible.
References
- Peng L, Fu C, Liang Z, Zhang Q, Xiong F, Chen L, He C, Wei Q. Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields Increase Angiogenesis and Improve Cardiac Function After Myocardial Ischemia in Mice. Circ J. 2020 Jan 24;84(2):186-193. doi: 10.1253/circj.CJ-19-0758. Epub 2020 Jan 9. PMID: 31915323.
- Markov, M.S. Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy history, state of the art and future. Environmentalist 27, 465–475 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-007-9128-2
- Peeples L. Core Concept: The rise of bioelectric medicine sparks interest among researchers, patients, and industry. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 3;116(49):24379-24382. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1919040116. PMID: 31796581; PMCID: PMC6900593.
- Allied Market Research. Electroceuticals/Bioelectric Medicine Market to Reach $40.5 Billion Globally by 2032. PRNewswire. 2024. Link
- Electrome | Precision Bioelectric Therapeutics. https://electrome.io