A “smart” bandage will inject medicine into the wound when the infection worsens

A group of researchers at the Swiss Empa Research Center, led by Fei Pan and Qun Ren, has developed a dressing material that responds to an exacerbation of infection and, more precisely, to an increase in body temperature.

As you know, the use of antibiotics is fraught with side effects, and excessive use leads to “habituation” of infections to them. Dressing materials are also far from perfect — they are opaque, which makes it difficult to monitor the condition of wounds and reduces the effect of their treatment.

The basis of the innovative dressing material is a thin membrane of nanofibers made from a mixture of PMMA polymers and biocompatible polymer Eudragit. The antiseptic octenidine dihydrochloride was placed behind the membrane.

While the body temperature in the area of the wound is in the range of 32-34 ° C, the mixture is in a solid “non-working” state. However, when it rises to 37 ° C, the polymers soften, and they begin to secrete antiseptic into the infected tissue. After the temperature normalizes, the drug remaining in the dressing hardens again. In total, it is designed for five applications.

Currently, researchers are working to reduce the temperature “threshold” of the material and are exploring the possibility of using other medications, including real antibiotics.