A Wireless Way To Monitor Wound Infection
Opportunity
Despite modern advances in medical care, surgical wound infections are a major cause of readmissions and death after surgery. In the US, studies show that surgical infections can extend hospitalization by up to 10 days and increase costs by up to US$20,000 on average.
Typically, wound infections are detected only at very late stages, when serious symptoms start to appear. At this point, invasive and expensive clinical treatments are often required, posing a significant inconvenience to the patient. However, because wounds are covered with dressings that help them heal, it can be challenging to visually inspect wounds for infection on a routine basis. This highlights the need for methods to continuously monitor wounds without being hampered by physical impediments like dressings.
While sensors that indirectly detect physical or chemical parameters indicative of infection (e.g. temperature and pH level) are available, these devices cannot confirm the presence of pathogenic bacteria at the infected wound site. Though there are other technologies for detecting bacterial presence, these devices are often bulky, making effective wound monitoring a continuing challenge that remains to be addressed.
Technology
The invention is a wireless sensing device that monitors wound infection in real time-transmitting the readings to a smartphone. The device consists of a biocompatible DNA hydrogel, a sensor and a smartphone-compatible communication module. When enzymes secreted by pathogenic bacteria degrade the DNA hydrogel, this causes a change in capacitance that is then detected by the sensor.
In turn, this modification is reflected as a change in signal voltage-enabling the communication module to wirelessly send the signals to a smartphone, where a user-friendly readout facilitates interpretation. Notably, the device does not require batteries to function, making the system even more convenient
With its battery-free and non-invasive nature, the invention makes possible the real-time monitoring of wound infection while overcoming the limitations of other available methods.
Given its potential, the device may someday be developed to detect microbial contamination in contact lenses or catheters and even be redesigned as a food safety sensor. Currently, the laboratory is working to enrich the device’s sensing modalities, allowing other physical and biochemical signals to be detected for a more comprehensive reading of wound conditions.
The wound monitoring device consists of three components: a biocompatible DNA hydrogel, a biosensing module and a smartphone-compatible communication module. The device monitors biological changes in the wound and wirelessly transmits these signals to a smartphone for interpretation
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