Wearable healthcare devices have been one of the most interesting innovations of

recent years. Suffice to say however, whilst we have seen a huge number of new
products enter the market, I didn�t expect to see a great deal of improvement given
to the humble bandage.

Alas, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have done just that
with a new �smart bandage� that uses electrical currents to detect tissue damage
before it is visible to the human eye.

�We set out to create a type of bandage that could detect bedsores as they are
forming, before the damage reaches the surface of the skin,� the developers say.

So, for instance, it could provide a regular monitoring service for a wound. The
researchers documented their work in a paper that was recently published in Nature
Communications.

They believe that their device could provide a significant jolt to a problem that
they believe affects around 2.5 million a year in the US alone.

�By the time you see signs of a bedsore on the surface of the skin, it�s usually
too late,� the authors say.

�This bandage could provide an easy early-warning system that would allow
intervention before the injury is permanent. If you can detect bedsores early on,
the solution is easy. Just take the pressure off.�

The device has been created by printing dozens of electrodes onto a thin and
flexible film that is then discharged with a tiny current to create a spatial map
of the tissue using impedance spectroscopy.

The paper explains how the wall of a cell�s membrane begins to break down as the
cell starts to die, therefore allowing electrical signals to leak through what was
previously an impermeable wall.

The smart bandage collected data during the research once per day to track the
progress of wounds. It was able to detect the increase in electrical resistance
that corresponds with the increase in membrane permeability.

�One of the things that makes this work novel is that we took a comprehensive
approach to understanding how the technique could be used to observe developing
wounds in complex tissue,� the authors say.

The future is bright

The authors believe that the future is especially bright for smart bandage
technology. As more is understood about the way the body responds to disease and
injury, they believe that we are better equipped to build bandages that respond to
specific circumstances in an intelligent manner.

For instance, they believe that in the not too distant future, bandages will be
capable of reporting information regarding the wound to improve patient care
significantly.

The bandage is now undergoing clinical trials to put it through its paces. You can
find out more about it via the video below.