Researchers at North Carolina State University unveiled a new, high-tech bandage that’s being hailed as a major breakthrough in the treatment of diabetic foot wounds.
Although it’s still in the early testing stages, the pioneering device may accelerate wound healing by up to 30 percent over conventional dressings. It’s also far more affordable and user-friendly than existing treatments for diabetic foot ulcers, which are one of the leading causes of limb loss worldwide.
Developed with support from the US Department of Defense, the souped-up bandage contains built-in electrodes and a tiny battery that gets activated by a drop of water. Once activated, the bandage produces an electric field that reduces inflammation, stimulates blood flow, and controls infection.
“That electric field is critical, because it’s well established that electric fields accelerate healing in chronic wounds,” one of the study’s coauthors, Rajaram Kaveti, said in a press release. Kaveti added that the electrodes are designed to conform to the surface of the wound: “In order to focus the electric field effectively, you want electrodes to be in contact with the patient at both the periphery and center of the wound itself. And since these wounds can be asymmetrical and deep, you need to have electrodes that can conform to a wide variety of surface features.”
Unlike existing chronic-wound therapies, the experimental bandages don’t require a trip to the clinic or a long period of immobilization. They’re used like ordinary bandages—just peel, stick, and go about your day.
“Our goal here was to develop a far less expensive technology that accelerates healing in patients with chronic wounds,” said coauthor Amay Bandodkar in a press release. “We also wanted to make sure that the technology is easy enough for people to use at home.”
The experimental bandages were initially tested on diabetic mice, a commonly used research model for human wound healing. Bandodkar says the team is working toward a clinical trial involving human subjects.
The paper, “Water-powered, electronics-free dressings that electrically stimulate wounds for rapid wound closure,” is available in the open-source journal Science Advances, science.org/journal/sciadv.
