“A new generation of smart bandages that could allow doctors to remotely monitor wounds, decrease scarring and speed up healing with a zap of light or electricity is on its way,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
You can see smart-bandage prototypes at medical conferences. “Many contain small electronics that can detect how a wound is healing and wirelessly transmit the information to a doctor. Some enable the doctor to remotely dispense treatments. Such technical sophistication likely wouldn’t be necessary for a simple cut or scrape, but could be lifesaving for severe wounds treated in the hospital or chronic wounds cared for at home.”
“You could have healthcare centers that monitor these devices and contact the patients when there’s a potential problem and advise them on next steps,” notes Dr. William Tettelbach, head of the American Professional Wound Care Association.
The Journal says that “many of these inventions are in early stages— some in animal or human testing and others still in the lab— and far from coming to market.”
But “it’s a very hot area right now,” according to Northwestern University’s Guillermo Ameer. He says that “when we first started in this area five years ago, there were very few people, very few labs, looking at smart systems or smart bandages. Now we have many researchers and colleagues not only in the United States, but in China and Europe, that are pursuing this.”
“Many of the smart bandages use a piece of electronic circuitry that goes into a pocket in the bandage itself. When the bandage needs to be changed, the circuitry would come out of the pocket and be put into a new bandage. The circuitry is often flexible, like that developed by a team of researchers led by Stanford University,” says the Journal.
Professors at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University are testing a bandage on rodents “that can detect infection and then deliver electrotherapy — a zap of electricity — to help speed healing. Some studies have shown that electrical stimulation can increase the migration of immune cells to kill germs and remove dead cells at the wound site, and randomized clinical trials have indicated that electrical stimulation can improve wound healing.”
The researchers foresee using the bandage to transmit reports via a cellphone app. Yuanwen Jiang, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania who is working on the project, says that “the bandage will be able to transmit the signals of the wound in real time to the physician, so they will be alerted if there’s anything that’s dramatically off-track happening.”
The bandage might also administer antibiotics, which could be stored in a small capsule or hydrogel. If an infection occurs, “a doctor could remotely order a valve to be opened and the ointment delivered to the wound.” The idea is that if the antibiotic is delivered quickly and the “wound heals easily, it would help avoid an overproduction of collagen, which can produce scarring. The team hopes to start testing in humans next year.”
Northwestern’s Ameer is working on two smart bandages, both of which have been tested on rodents, and are now being tested on pigs.
One smart bandage delivers a drug— a compound called panthenol citrate — which has antioxidant and antibacterial properties and promotes blood-vessel growth. “The other smart bandage has two electrodes that send out electrical currents to measure how moist it is. Moisture indicates the wound is still trying to heal, and a drier environment indicates healing is further along.”
Smart bandages are being developed for other uses. Researchers at the University of Southampton are developing a bandage that uses tiny LED lights to emit ultraviolet-C light, thus sterilizing the wound as it heals. The bandage hasn’t yet been tested on rodents or other animals, though.
