The newest smart bandage can stimulate cell growth without overstaying its welcome.
at some point in their lives. These injuries often go unnoticed due to diabetically induced nerve damage, and are slow to heal due to decreased blood circulation. The longer these wounds remain open or partially healed, the more likely they are to develop serious, sometimes life-threatening complications and infections.
To help cope with this, electrotherapy is a method of stimulating the healing process by attracting new blood flow toward a wound, but the treatment’s required tools and medical instruments have long been bulky, wired , and limited to monitored hospital settings. Smart electric bandages could one day soon provide an alternative, saving patients time, money, and lengthy doctor visits.
Here’s how it works: The new, flexible bandage encompasses the site of a wound, and features electrodes on both sides of the material. The inner face includes one electrode that sits atop the injury itself, while its ring-shaped partner surrounds the wound. The other side, meanwhile, hosts a coil to harvest power alongside a near-field communication system to wirelessly transmit data.
Once larger animal testing is completed, the team hopes to move onto human trials. Because no drugs or controlled materials are included in the system, it’s possible that the bandage could move into the public sector much sooner than other treatment options needing FDA approval.Andrew Paul is Popular Science's staff writer covering tech news. Previously, he was a regular contributor to The A.V.
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