Smart Plaster
The smart plaster heal a wound by electrical stimulation;
Chronic wounds such as diabetes, skin ulcers may cause amputations even death if it is not treated in time. So, the smart plaster improved by scientists in Stanford University heal a wound faster via electrical stimulation.
The smart plaster consist of two layers; to the layer 100 micron wide, the electronic circuits were integrated. This engineering marvel layer contains microcontroller, radio antenna, memory, electrical stimulator, biosensors and other electronic circuits. Well, on the bottom layer there is a soft skin like layer of hydrogel.
Biosensors located in the plaster control wound’s electrical impedance and heat. According to previous researches, increasing the impedance shows us a faster healing and yet, ıt has been shown that the temperature decreases with inflammation.
If the wound is harder to get recover, then the plaster trigger the tissue by a small electric current. During the tissue is closed by the electric current, the risk of infection decreases. Thus reaching the skin cells to injured tissue get faster and bacterias are killed.
Moreover, through the radio antenna, you are able to transferring data to your phone by wireless connection. If ıt should be removed, it can be easily removed from the skin by heaitng to 40°C.
According to the test that applicated on the mice, results shows the the plaster get faster the process of healing by 25% and skin regeneration increased approximately 50%.
The scientists thinks that the plaster can be further improved. They also think that when the plaster is released, it can be enlarged.
Moreover to the system, different sensors may be added such as pH, metabolites and biomarkers. That way, the researcher thinks that they can heal the chronic wounds easier and get new information about healing wounds.
Doctor Ahmet TOSUN said “With stimulation and sensing on a single device, the smart bandage accelerates healing, but at the same time follows the healing process of the wound. We think that this represents a new method that will allow new biological discoveries and the discovery of previously difficult-to-test hypotheses about the human healing process.” related the topic.
