The new dressing can be monitored using a smartphone.
Imagine a bandage that can release different types of drugs at specific times. This is exactly the thing that researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Harvard Medical School and MIT have developed. The new "smart" bandage can not only inject drugs into our body, but also be controlled using a smartphone.
The dressing is made of electrically conductive fibers that are coated with a hydrogel. This gel, in turn, may contain medications such as antibiotics, growth factors or pain relievers, which means that different medications may be present in the same dressing on different fibers.
A special microcontroller (about the size of a postage stamp) conducts electrical current through selected fibers of your choice. When this happens, the fibers heat up and heat the gel, which releases the drug.
The microcontroller can be started wirelessly using a mobile device. However, the bandage can be equipped with special sensors that will measure glucose, pH and other indicators. As a result, the dressing could autonomously start its work to release drugs as needed.
It is speculated that this technology could be especially useful for diabetes and other chronic diseases, or for soldiers being treated on the battlefield where numerous pathogens are present.
The research was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.