Researchers from MIT have developed a new type of bandage that incorporates electronics and drug reservoirs to monitor and care for a wound. The durable hydrogel bandage is supple and flexible, allowing for full range of movement even if it is applied to a knee or elbow. It also has a few innovative bells and whistles such as temperature-monitoring electronics that automatically release medicine to fight infections.
The "smart wound dressing" is made of a rubbery hydrogel matrix that is 90 percent water, one designed specifically to replicate the qualities of human tissue. The gel creates a strong bond with materials such as titanium, aluminum, silicon, ceramic, gold, and other substances that are commonly used to build electronics.
Titanium wire runs through the gel to make the bandage conductive, allowing a number of electronic devices to be embedded, such as semiconductor chips. LED lights are also used; they can flash when a wound reaches a certain temperature or drug reservoirs run low. The medicine reservoirs are drilled into the hydrogel and travel to the wound via channels cut in the matrix.
The next step is for the bandage to alert a doctor remotely if a wound deteriorates to the point where medical attention is required. Eventually, lead researcher Xuanhe Zhao hopes to develop flexible, wet electronics similar to the smart bandage that can be embedded within the body or even the brain. An internal hydrogel device could serve as a glucose sensor that doesn't trigger a response from the immune system, and the same materials could eventually be used to create neural probes.
"The brain is a bowl of Jell-O," says Zhao. "Currently, researchers are trying different soft materials to achieve long-term biocompatibility of neural devices. With collaborators, we are proposing to use robust hydrogel as an ideal material for neural devices, because the hydrogel can be designed to possess similar mechanical and physiological properties as the brain."
Other implantable electronic devices are being tested for medical purposes, but substances like MIT's unique hydrogel could significantly increase the number of possible applications for electronics inserted in the human body. For now, the smart bandage will likely be tested on burn wounds which require constant monitoring and have a high risk of infection.
A paper detailing the new bandage was recently published in Advanced Materials.
Source: MIT via Smithsonian
Jay Bennett is the associate editor of PopularMechanics.com. He has also written for Smithsonian, Popular Science and Outside Magazine.
