U.S scientists have developed a smart bandage that heals faster and controls dosage

NewsBharati    07-Oct-2017
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Washington, October 7: A bandage cannot always heal the wound from within. It usually takes a lot of time and wears off easily. As a result of which the U.S scientists have developed a smart bandage that can precisely control the dose. The bandage is developed by researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 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 wireless 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 to a specific type of wound, researchers said.
 
“This is the first bandage that is capable of dose-dependent drug release. You can release multiple drugs with different release profiles. That is a big advantage in comparison with other systems. What we did here was come up with a strategy for building a bandage from the bottom up," said Ali Tamayol, assistant professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Researchers ran a series of experiments. In one, they applied a smart bandage loaded with growth factor to wounded mice. When compared with a dry bandage, the team's version regrew three times as much of the blood-rich tissue critical to the healing process. Another experiment showed that an antibiotic-loaded version of the bandage could eradicate infection-causing bacteria.