Electric bandage holds promise for treating chronic wounds
Aug 7th, 2024
Chronic wounds are open wounds that heal slowly, if they heal at all. For example, sores that occur in some patients with diabetes are chronic wounds. These wounds are particularly problematic because they often recur after treatment and significantly increase the risk of amputation and death.
One of the challenges associated with chronic wounds is that existing treatment options are extremely expensive, which can create additional problems for patients.
"This project is part of a bigger DARPA project to accelerate wound healing with personalized wound dressings," says Sam Sia, co-corresponding author of the work and professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University. "This collaborative project shows that these lightweight bandages, which can provide electrical stimulation simply by adding water, healed wounds faster than the control, at a similar rate as bulkier and more expensive wound treatment."