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'Smart bandage' to detect bedsores | 'Smart bandage' to detect bedsores |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Scientists have created a smart bandage they say can detect bedsores long before they become visible. | Scientists have created a smart bandage they say can detect bedsores long before they become visible. |
Bedsores can develop when a patient is laid up in bed - prolonged pressure hampers blood flow, damaging the skin. | Bedsores can develop when a patient is laid up in bed - prolonged pressure hampers blood flow, damaging the skin. |
The sticking plaster uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage as pressure ulcers start to form. | The sticking plaster uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage as pressure ulcers start to form. |
Animal testing suggests a prototype works as a warning system. Human trials are now needed to test these findings, Nature Communications reports. | Animal testing suggests a prototype works as a warning system. Human trials are now needed to test these findings, Nature Communications reports. |
About half a million people a year in the UK develop at least one pressure ulcer, often in hospitals and nursing homes. | About half a million people a year in the UK develop at least one pressure ulcer, often in hospitals and nursing homes. |
And they can lead to serious complications, including infection of the skin, bones, joints and blood. | And they can lead to serious complications, including infection of the skin, bones, joints and blood. |
Cell damage or death changes the structure and integrity of the cell membrane or outermost layer, allowing more electrical current to pass through. This is what the smart bandage detects. | Cell damage or death changes the structure and integrity of the cell membrane or outermost layer, allowing more electrical current to pass through. This is what the smart bandage detects. |
Prof Michel Maharbiz and his team at the University of California Berkeley hope their device will be built into bandages and wound dressings. | Prof Michel Maharbiz and his team at the University of California Berkeley hope their device will be built into bandages and wound dressings. |
He said: "You can imagine a future which is very close, where the bandages that you put on or the dressing that a surgeon or physician might put on would actually be able to really report on a lot of interesting information about the progress of the wound." | He said: "You can imagine a future which is very close, where the bandages that you put on or the dressing that a surgeon or physician might put on would actually be able to really report on a lot of interesting information about the progress of the wound." |
NHS England says most pressure ulcers are avoidable, given the right care and early detection. | NHS England says most pressure ulcers are avoidable, given the right care and early detection. |
A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing said: "Pressure ulcers are both painful and distressing, but can be preventable. | |
"The cornerstone of prevention is risk assessment and mitigation which requires adequate numbers of skilled nurses both in the community and in hospitals" |
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