Smart bandages trigger the administration of drugs to stimulate healing

Researchers developed a smart bandage that could monitor the condition of a wound in order to effectively deploy drugs.

A team of engineers from Tufts University revealed the prototype bandage last week.

applied only to bloody wounds, prevent infection, and keep a clean area while it heals.

However, the prototype aims to show that dressings can make the transition from a passive treatment option to an active option – through the introduction According to the team, chronic wounds that refuse to heal is a problem that costs the US economy about $ 28 billion a year.

These types of injuries can include burns, skin disruption caused by diabetes, and other conditions that weaken the skin's healing abilities – sometimes resulting in permanent infections and, in the worst case, , amputations.

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With this in mind, researchers have designed a bandage that can actively monitor wounds while they heal.

The dressing includes built-in sensors capable of detecting the pH of an injury and whether or not an injury heals. PH levels between 5.5 and 6.5 indicate scarring, while pH levels above 6.5 suggest infection.

In addition, temperature sensors are embedded in the bandage that can monitor the inflammation.

is read by a microprocessor. If pH levels and temperature records indicate that the cure is not working well, a drug put in place in a gel is able to release drugs to increase recovery.

The dressing has less than 3mm thick ribbon.

The team says that the device is not expensive either; because all the components – with the exception of the reusable microprocessor – were specifically chosen to ensure that the bandage is cheap and disposable.

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"The intelligent bandage we created, with pH and temperature sensors and the delivery of antibiotic drugs, is really a prototype for a wide range of possibilities," said Sameer Sonkusale, professor of engineering Electrical and Computer Science at the University of Tufts. -autor for the study. "One can imagine integrating other components, drugs, and growth factors that treat different conditions in response to different scarring markers."

Intelligent bandages have been tested in vitro under laboratory conditions and pre-clinical research is underway.

In addition, Sonkusale and his team have developed flexible sensors for oxygenation that can be integrated into the bandage to provide an additional healing marker.

The research was published in the academic journal Small and was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Young Investigator Award of the Office of Naval Research, the ONR PECASE Award and the National Institutes of Health.

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