To the editor:

In 2007, at NCCC, I sent an email to a teacher of mine with an idea. She said she was going to pass it on to a doctor at the AMC hospital in town. I never heard back from either. I forgot about the idea until this week. The idea is simple and, to the best of my knowledge, is not being done at this time.

Bad wounds often have a wound-vac to suck out gunk and promote blood flow to heal. Inversely, bad bacteria, like C. Diff, can’t thrive in open air — oxygen stops them. Why not a wound machine that does both actions similar to how we breathe? A few seconds of negative pressure followed by a few seconds of oxygen-enriched air at slightly greater than atmospheric pressure. Cells need oxygen to repair and live. They rely on the bloodstream, which in many people is compromised. How about sending the oxygen directly to the wound surface and perhaps stop the “bad bugs” at the same time? Two seconds of oxygen, two seconds of suction. Repeat ad nauseam.

Doing both alternating actions (roughly akin to how our lungs work) might have value? In vivo is obviously out of the question. But perhaps an in vitro proof of concept with control groups could be done with minimal fabrication? Wound-vac, alternating Wound-vac plus O2, O2 alone and finally a control group. I think it would make a cool high school project.

Just a thought … Wax on. Wax off.

Ira Weinberg

Saranac Lake