A New Hitech Bandages Use Sensors and Can Deliver Medications

A team led by Xuanhe Zhao at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering designed a hydrogel bandage, made of highly absorbent polymer chains, that can stretch to nearly double its length to cover wounds in areas where placing a traditional bandage would be difficult—such as a knee or elbow, where robust flexibility is essential. It’s also been embedded with electronic components for monitoring body temperature and other vitals—the idea is that drug reservoirs could be built into the “smart wound dressing,” and the sensors could determine when to release the medicines and how much. All of the sensor data can be monitored via a smartphone, giving health care providers insight into how the wound is healing, when drug reservoirs are low and, for example, if the patient has become feverish.

Reference  Building A Better Band-Aid