An international team of researchers from multi-disciplinary fields has collaborated and has developed the "smart bandage" that was conceptualized as adjunct care for wounded soldiers in the field. Lead researcher, assistant Prof. Conor Evans describes the implement as a transparent liquid bandage that glows to display a visual measurement of wounded tissue oxygenation. According to Evans, this project is also part of a long-term program "to develop a Sensing, Monitoring, And Release of Therapeutics (SMART) bandage for improved care of patients with acute or chronic wounds."
From a medical standpoint, oxygen plays a vital role in healing. By allowing medical staff to see the extent of oxygenation in tissues that have been severely wounded or burned, there is a higher probability that patients will be given the appropriate surgical procedures that can restore physical functionality to their limbs.
The development of the "SMART bandage" provides immediate and noninvasive measurement of tissue oxygenation. To do this, the developers employed three major components: a bandage material that is able to conform to the surface of the patient's skin and form an airtight seal; a phosphorescent sensor molecule with a dynamic range; and an oxygenation-sensitive imaging device is able to produce a visual color map of tissue oxygenation. It works on the key ingredient phosphors that is a molecule that is able to absorb and emit light in the process more commonly known ask phosphorescence. When used with the bandage, the phosphorescent molecules produced light that is dependent on the amount of oxygen present in the wounded tissues. As the oxygen level decreases, the phosphors glow brighter. As a visual reference, the bandage has a green to red color map, with red indicating the presence of oxygen and green as the oxygen-insensitive reference.
The liquid bandage is painted onto the surface of the skin and allowed to dry as a solid thin film over which a protective barrier layer is applied to reduce the bandage's sensitivity to the oxygen in the air and more sensitive to the oxygen levels within the patient's tissues. A camera-based readout device is the final piece that provides the source of excitation light to trigger the phosphorescence inside the bandage. It can be used to monitor ischemic conditions, post operative skin grafts, or the depth of burned tissue to provide doctors with a guide for the removal of damaged or dead tissues from that area.
