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HEALTH
Developed in Australia a "smart bandage" to treat chronic wounds
It is expected that this curious invention improves the quality of life of these patients, mostly elderly, diabetics and obese people with chronic wounds and ulcers.
EL UNIVERSAL
Monday June 6, 2011 7:40 a.m.
Sydney .- An Australian scientist working on a "smart bandage" to treat chronic injuries based on a material that can change color according to the injury, local media reported today.
"What I'm developing is something that changes color in response to temperature changes," said Louise van der Werff, according to ABC radio.
"If you have an infection or inflammation is likely to increase over the normal temperature," said a researcher at Monash University.
But if you register a temperature drop is possible that there is "other problems such as the blood supply to the wound tissue," he added.
It is expected that this curious invention improves the quality of life of these patients, mostly elderly, diabetics and obese people with chronic wounds and ulcers.
In many cases, "the wounds of some patients take six months to heal because they are identified early recurrent infections," said Van der Werff, as quoted by Efe.
To produce this band, the Australian scientist seeks to incorporate material into the fiber of a molecule that changes color from red, green and blue.
The researcher hopes to produce in the near future a prototype in which the color changes are calibrated in response to a specific temperature range.
"We want to refine a color seen through a difference in less than half a degree in temperature (wound)," said Van der Werff.
The band "chameleon" can cut a local $ 500 million (366 million) the cost of treating chronic wounds in Australia because it facilitates the diagnosis monitoring the status of the lesions.