Smart wound dressings with built-in healing sensors developed

Multifunctional antimicrobial dressings are equipped with fluorescent sensors that glow brightly

under ultraviolet light if infection spreads or the wound does not heal properly.

Also smart headbands developed by the teamscientists and engineers at RMIT University are using the powerful antibacterial and antifungal properties of magnesium hydroxide to heal wounds faster.

The new dressings are cheaper to manufacture than silver-based dressings, but are just as effective against bacteria and fungi.

Currently, the only way to check the condition of wounds is to remove the bandages, which is both painful and risky: pathogens can enter an unhealed wound.

Wee Khanh Truong, PhD Student Vice President at RMIT.

The new smart headbands not only fight againstbacteria and reduce inflammation to promote healing, they also help monitor wound health. During the work, the research team synthesized nanolayers, which are 1000-10 thousand times thinner than a human hair, and embedded them into nanofibers.

Magnesium hydroxide nanolayers respond to pH changes, so they are easy to use as sensors to track healing.

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