Scientists develop smart bandages for better, faster healing

Scientists develop smart bandages for better, faster healing

Boston: scientists have developed a smart bandage that can precisely control the dose and delivery schedule of the medication tailored for a specific typr of w0und, leading to faster healing.

The bandage,developed by researchers from the university of Nebraska-lincoin  Harvard medical school and Massachusetts institute of technology in the us consists of electrically conductive fibres coated in a gel.

The gel can be individually loaded with infection-fighting antibiotics,tissue-regenerating growth factors, painkillers or other medications, researchers said.

A microcontroller no larger than a postage stamp which could be triggered by  A smartphone or other wirless device, sends small amounts of voltage through a chosen fibre.

That voltage heats the fibre and its hydrogel,releasing whatever cargo it contains.

A single bandage could accommodate multiple medications tailored ato a specific type of wound, researchers said.

While offering the ability to precisely control the dose and delivery schedule of those medications. That combination of customization and contol could substaintially improve or accelerate the healing process, said ali tamayol assistant professor at university of Nebraska-lincoln.

This is the first bandage that is capable of dose-dependent drug release. You can release multiple drugs with different release profiles.