Remember mood rings? They were fun for a while, but kind of useless. Now the same kind of technology has an important purpose. In research sponsored by the government of Australia, a team of scientists have developed fabric that monitors temperature and shows it by changing color. Bandages made from this fabric can relay information about the healing process underneath.
A bandage manufacturer is working with the team, and expects the product to be in the testing stage in about six months. Link -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: Louise van der Werff, CSIRO)
Their invention could reduce the $500 million cost of chronic wound care in Australia.
“We hope that the dressing could lead to more rapid and effective treatment of chronic wounds such as leg ulcers, saving time and money, as well as improving patient well-being,” says the lead inventor Louise van der Werff, a CSIRO materials scientist and Monash University PhD student.
“We’ve created a fabric that changes colour in response to temperature – showing changes of less than 0.5 of a degree. We expect that, when incorporated into a bandage it will allow nurses to quickly identify healing problems such as infection or interruptions to the blood supply, which are typically accompanied by a local increase or decrease in temperature,” she says.
A bandage manufacturer is working with the team, and expects the product to be in the testing stage in about six months. Link -via the Presurfer
(Image credit: Louise van der Werff, CSIRO)