Electronic bandage speeds healing and dissolves in body

The small, flexible bandage delivers electrotherapy directly to the wound site. In an animal study, researchers reported that when worn for just 30 minutes per day, the bandage healed diabetic ulcers 30 per cent faster than in mice without the bandage.

The team at Northwestern University believes it could provide a powerful tool for patients with diabetes, whose ulcers can lead to complications including amputated limbs or even death. Because diabetes can cause nerve damage that leads to numbness, people with diabetes might experience a simple blister or small scratch that goes unnoticed and untreated. As high glucose levels also thicken capillary walls, blood circulation slows, making it more difficult for these wounds to heal.

The team’s work was published in the journal Science Advances. Researchers believe it is the first bioresorbable bandage capable of delivering electrotherapy and the first example of a smart regenerative system.

“Our new bandage is cost-effective, easy to apply, adaptable, comfortable and efficient at closing wounds to prevent infections and further complications,” said Northwestern’s Guillermo A. Ameer, Daniel Hale Williams Professor of Biomedical Engineering, who co-led the study.