If left untreated, chronic wounds such as diabetic skin ulcers can become infected, ultimately leading to amputation and even death. It is designed to prevent this from happening through observation and treatment.
The bandage, which takes the form of an electronic skin adhesive patch, is being developed at Caltech by a team led by Asst. Professor Wei Gao.
It incorporates a flexible, stretchable, biocompatible polymer substrate with an array of sensory electrodes, a pair of voltage-modulating electrodes, and a layer of drug-loaded hydrogel underneath. Mounted on top of that board is a small flexible printed circuit board that contains electronics such as a battery, a Bluetooth chip, and a temperature sensor.
Hayashida Lance/California Institute of Technology
When applied directly to the wound site, the bandage continuously uses sensors to check the concentration of chemicals such as uric acid, ammonium, glucose and lactic acid. Additionally, check for changes in wound pH and temperature. These are all indicators of infection or infection. inflammation.
If such signs are detected, Bandage responds by sending an alert to a nearby smartphone or other device. We also use voltage-modulated electrodes to release drugs from the hydrogel and deliver low-voltage electrical currents to the wound bed to stimulate new tissue regrowth.
Hayashida Lance/California Institute of Technology
In laboratory tests performed in rats, the technique accurately relayed wound status data, Escherichia coli, accelerates the healing of chronic wounds resembling diabetic skin ulcers. The plan now calls for conducting human trials.
“Although we have demonstrated this proof of concept in a small animal model, we would like to increase the stability of the device in the future, but we also want to test it in larger chronic wounds, as wound parameters and microenvironments can vary from site to site. I would like to,” said Gao.
A paper on this study was recently published in the journal scientific progress.
Source: California Institute of Technology
