‘Smart’ Bandage Monitors and Accelerates Wound Healing
A wireless “smart” bandage that combines advanced electronics with an engineered hydrogel shows promise in […]
The smart bandage is composed of wireless circuitry that uses impedance/temperature sensors to monitor the progression of wound healing, explained a news release published on the EurekAlert website. If healing is stunted or infection is detected, the sensors send a signal to a central processing unit to apply more electrical stimulation across the wound bed to accelerate tissue closure and reduce infection. The researchers were able to track the sensor data in real-time on a smartphone, all without the need for wires, said the news release.
A 100-micron-thick layer of electronics — a microcontroller unit, radio antenna, memory, electrical stimulator, biosensors, and other components — sits atop an engineered hydrogel that is designed to deliver electrical stimulation to heal the injured tissue and collect real-time biosensor data.
The polymer in the hydrogel adheres securely to the wound surface when needed, yet pulls away cleanly and gently without harming the wound when it is warmed a few degrees above body temperature.
Electrical stimulation, also known as galvanotaxis, accelerates the migration of keratinocytes to the wound site, limits bacterial infections, and prevents the development of biofilms on wound surfaces to promote tissue growth and help with tissue repair, said the news release. The Stanford researchers were able to integrate this proven technology with real-time biosensor data to provide what they describe as a novel automated treatment modality informed by biosensors.
The smart bandage senses conductivity and temperature changes in the skin as the wound heals — electrical impedance increases as wounds heal and local temperatures decline as inflammation subsides. “With stimulation and sensing in one device, the smart bandage speeds healing, but it also keeps track as the wound is improving,” said Artem Trotsyuk, also a co-first author of the study who completed his graduate work in the lab of Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, formerly the Johnson & Johnson Distinguished Professor of Surgery (Emeritus) in the Stanford School of Medicine, and currently Chair of the Department of Surgery and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “We think it represents a new modality that will enable new biological discovery and the exploration of previously difficult-to-test hypotheses on the human healing process,” added Trotsyuk.
The researchers caution that the smart bandage is, as yet, a proof of concept, albeit a promising one, and that many challenges remain — notably, increasing the size of the device to human scale, reducing cost, and solving long-term data storage issues. Also, new sensors may be added to measure metabolites, biomarkers, and pH, for example. And there are some potential roadblocks to clinical use, such as hydrogel rejection or biofouling of the sensors, which can cause irritation.
Original Article: (https://www.mddionline.com/digital-health/smart-bandage-monitors-and-accelerates-wound-healing)
