Search Here

Swansea University's take on personalized treatment was unveiled in the form of "smart bandages". The wearable technology aims to assist doctors in monitoring wound healing from a remote location.

The researchers at the university's Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) have created the smart bandages using a multi-technology approach. The bandage is custom fit to the wound area through 3D and fitted with nanosensors that can detect changes in the condition of the area. Any changes will be sent through 5G communication so the healthcare providers can check in on the patient between doctors' visits, the Huffington Post reported.

The 5G component forms part of the regional development project in Wales and the ILS hopes to ride on that bandwith for the purpose of healthcare. The smart dressing is envisioned to provide real-time information on the state of a cut or wound. These will be logged into an app on a smartphone together with information of where and how active you are. The information can then be used by physicians to assess how a treatment is working and proceed with a tailor-fit treatment protocol, BBC reported.

The smart bandages hope to avoid the downsides that patients experience with traditional medicine where treatment is prescribed for weeks or months at a time and improve patient care. The high-tech dressing could alert the doctors and patients of an infection. The prevention of such an infection can lead to preventing abuse of antibiotics and lower costs of treatment of the wound.

Another type bandage developed by British scientists at the University of Bath is currently in clinical trials in four UK hospitals. The bandage makes use of nanocapsules filled with fluorescent dye that break when it comes into contact with chemicals produced by disease-causing bacteria. The bandage then turns yellow because of the dye and alerts care providers before the onset infection.
\