What If Bandages Could Monitor Your Wound?

Today's bandages work pretty well, but is it time for an upgrade? Learn how researchers are creating smart bandages in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogel bomb here. Sometimes a wound requires a bandage,
But what if that bandage wasn't just a passive way
to prevent infection. What if a bandage could play an
active role in diagnosis and recovery. This idea that bandages
can be smart is behind a new invention by a

(00:23):
team of engineers at Tufts University. The team developed a
flexible bandage less than three millimeters thick that surround an
eighth of an inch that actively monitors chronic wounds and
then responds by delivering wound specific drug treatments to promote healing.
In a news release, co authors samirsan Kusl, a PhD
and professor of electrical and Computer engineering at Tufts University

(00:44):
School of Engineering, said, we've been able to take a
new approach to bandages because of the emergence of flexible electronics.
In fact, flexible electronics have made many wearable medical devices possible,
but bandages have changed little since the beginnings of medicine.
We are simply applying modern technology to an ancient art
and the hopes of improving outcomes for an intractable problem.

(01:07):
The research, if successful in clinical settings, could transform the
future of bandages. This could be an important advancement for
people with chronic skin wounds that are difficult to heal,
such as those arising from burns or diabetes. The smart
bandages have pH and temperature sensors to measure the primary
markers of wound healing. The pH balance for optimal wound

(01:27):
healing is a range from five point five to six
point five, while wounds that are not healing will have
a pach range above six point five. An elevated temperature
at the wound site indicates inflammation is taking place and
that a wound is also not healing. A separate bandage
prototype made by the team also takes oxygenation into account,
signaling whether a wound is healing optimally. The real time

(01:50):
data from the bandages sensors is read by a microprocessor
that can then signal an on demand antibiotic release, creating
a better environment four wounds to heal. The next step
for Toughs University's smart bandages is to test them in
a clinical setting and see how the concept stacks up
against other smart bandages, including one designed by researchers at
the University of Nebraska that uses a smartphone as the

(02:13):
remote control to deliver medication. Today's episode was written by
Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff
has merch now. You can get phone cases, tope bags,
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(02:36):
For more on this and lots of other smart topics,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com