Optimal wound healing requires a delicate balance of various chemical and physical factors and bandages are often used to achieve the stable environment needed for tissue repair. However, the conventional wound coverings used by providers to constantly monitor wound temperature, pressure, and moisture levels are often inefficient. To solve the smart bandages, wound care is now more efficient and effective.

What are Smart Bandages?

Smart bandages are wound coverings that incorporate technology to help optimize the tissue repair process. Smart bandages function via various sensors which detect, record and regulate physical and chemical factors that affect the rate of wound healing. Smart wound bandages may help wound care experts plan for, prognosticate, and manage acute to chronic wounds of various etiologies more effectively than traditional bandages. 

How Do Smart Bandages Function?

The functioning of smart bandages depends on the type of sensors integrated within the bandage material. Smart bandages integrate a thin layer of flexible electronics within the bandage which can detect and interpret thermal changes, oxygen/moisture content, as well as pressure variations at the wound site they overlay. 

Categories of Smart Bandage Sensors

The commonest types of sensors incorporated within smart bandages include:

• Thermal sensors
• Oxygen saturation sensors
• Wound pressure sensors
• pH sensors
• Oxygen Saturation Sensors

The metabolic processes involved in wound healing are aerobic reactions that require oxygen. Smart bandages with oxygen inbuilt sensors can assess the levels of perfusion within a wound site and then appropriate measures can be taken to improve oxygenation. Information can be stored within an electronic chip attached to the smart bandage or transmitted to a remote device accessible by wound care providers.  

Wound Pressure Sensors

The amount of pressure on a wound is a critical determinant of its rate of healing. Consequently, wound care professionals often apply negative pressure therapy as a wound healing technique. Smart bandages with pressure sensors function differently but with a similar goal to optimize wound site pressure. Compression bandages can be integrated with pressure sensors and adjusted as required to apply the right amount of pressure at the site of the injury. This will facilitate efficient and optimized wound repair.  

pH Sensors

Another useful sensor found in smart bandages is a pH sensor. The acidity of a wound can affect its rate of resolution. Optimal wound pH is usually around 5.5 to 6.5 with values above or below this range being associated with slow or halted wound healing. Integrating a pH sensor into a wound covering will help wound care experts monitor the acidity within an injury site and correct imbalances accordingly. 

Applications for Smart Bandage Tech

Smart bandages are now being developed for use in various wound care applications, such as delivering wound medication and electrotherapeutics (electric-mediated wound therapy). Various applications of smart bandages can be harnessed to facilitate controlled wound healing. Patients with chronic, slow-healing wounds stand to benefit from the use of smart wound bandages the most as the factors contributing to their unsatisfactory recovery are better controlled than with conventional bandages. 

Electric Smart Bandages  

Some smart bandages have been designed to deliver electrical stimuli into patient wounds. These charged wound coverings can be used to inhibit bacterial growth by disrupting biofilms that may serve as a nidus of infection. As an added benefit, these forms of smart wound dressings can also stimulate the development of new blood vessels within and around the wound. New blood vessel proliferation will promote better tissue perfusion with increased flow of oxygen and nutrients to the wound site. The overall effect is an improvement in the quality of repair tissue generated, as well as a faster rate of wound resolution. 

Medication Delivery

Another potential application for smart bandages is their use as drug delivery vehicles. In some cases, medication-impregnated microbeads can be incorporated into the smart bandage substrate. These drug vehicles can be designed to be activated by changes in wound site temperature or response to other organic stimuli.

Benefits of Smart Bandages over Conventional Bandages

Smart bandages possess quite a few advantages over the traditional bandages used in managing acute and chronic wounds. These benefits include:

• Effective regulation of physical and chemical conditions within the wound site
• Useful telehealth tool that allows wound care practitioners to monitor their patients' wounds remotely
• Optimized wound healing with less tissue manipulation, reducing the risk of infection
• Storage, and recording of useful wound care data helps wound care providers analyze patient wound healing progress

Future Outlook

Although smart bandage technology is still mostly in its developmental stages, there is growing optimism in the wound care community about its use in revolutionizing wound care. With various potential applications, the use of smart bandages is likely to overtake and eventually replace conventional wound coverings used in managing acute to chronic wounds.