In recent years, research teams around the world have created various types of medical pads (bandages, gauzes, patches, etc.), which are described as “smart”. Some of these patches incorporate medications and substances, which help in the rapid healing of the wounds, on which they are placed, while others incorporate technologies of monitoring the status of the wounds.
A research team from the University of Bologna, in Italy, has created a smart gauze that communicates with a patient’s treating doctors, to inform them about the healing process of the wound, on which it has been placed, so that it does not need to be checked!
The gauze has a sensor that records the moisture levels of the wound. Moisture levels are directly related to the healing process of a wound; so, measuring moisture can show how the healing process of a wound is progressing. The data recorded by the gauze is transmitted —via an RFID chip— to a special —for the occasion— application on a mobile phone, which must be located close to the gauze. Thus, in case a wound has not yet healed, the doctor will not have to remove the gauze to do the relevant check. It has been found that removing the patches from a wound —even for a short time— delays healing, if it has not been achieved.
According to its creators, gauze is low cost (although they have not announced its price), since it is made of very cheap materials; for this reason, after its use, it will be thrown away, so that only new ones are used each time on a wound. In fact, the researchers created two types of gauze, each of which works better on different types of wounds, lighter, or more severe, accordingly.
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